C&CM Nov 13

NOVEMBER 2013

Cooks, whips and never splits Bestway buys Sher Bros’ food cash & carry in Glasgow Caterforce on target to hit £340m turnover by year end United Wholesale Scotland to open in Edinburgh next September K ymaid Culinary is the cr alternative that does it all, forming on taste, functionality and versatility oss multiple applications.

AWARDS lunch to highlight supplier projects in retail clubs

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contents

Insight into leaders’ tactics As the warm glow of this summer’s sales recedes, most wholesalers and suppliers will be making plans for next year.

Despite the harsh economic situation, the sunshine will have pushed sales up for many businesses this year, but this means they are going to have to try even harder, and be even smarter, if they are to keep that sales graph on an upward trajectory through 2014.

Wholesalers are going to be looking for greater support from their suppliers, but the suppliers will only give this if they believe they will receive a good return on their investment.

The best way to satisfy both these requirements is to focus efforts on the customers who are going to generate the best return. For wholesalers and their suppliers this means the most disciplined, switched-on independent retailers, and the vast majority of them are in retailer clubs and symbol groups.

This is why at our exclusive AWARDS lunch, at Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire on 4 December, we will be focusing on ‘Supplier Innovation in Retail Clubs’.

We have invited Martin Swadling from Booker, Bestway’s James Hall, and Nikkita Mulchandani from Imperial Cash & Carry to give us an insight into ways these leading businesses have worked in partnership with suppliers to generate significant, long-term sales uplifts.

Tickets for this event are selling fast, so if you would like to attend don’t delay. Call 01342 712100 or email mail.winlove@btconnect.com.

Pictured after Inverarity Morton’s acquisition of Forth Wines are (l to r): Ian Cumming, the new commercial director; Donald Campbell, sales director; and Stephen Russell, managing director ... see p.8

news

4–10

delivered

14

bestway awards

15

in focus

18

caterforce conference

20

achievers

22–23

spotlight

24

awards lunch

25

soft drinks

26–30

energy drinks

32–40

wines, spirits & rtds

42–46

breakfast

47–48

snacks

50–52

products & promotions

54–55

Managing Editor

Kirsti Sharratt

Editor

John Wood

News Editor

Mervyn Gilbert

Features Editor

Amber Aitken

Media Sales Manager

Clare Phillips

Published by Winlove Publications Ltd PO Box 366 EAST GRINSTEAD RH19 4ZE Tel (01342) 712100

Business Development Manager David Ford

Fax (01342) 712101

Publishing Director

Email mail.winlove@btconnect.com

Martin Lovell

4,565 July 2012–June 2013 John Wood editor

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

ISSN 1352-254X

Cash & Carry Management is available on subscription at £52 per year (single copies £5).

Overseas subscription: £80.

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 3

news IN BRIEF 3663 switch BFS Group has submitted a planning application for a multi-temp facility at Chepstow (understood to be on the Newhouse Farm Industrial Estate). The aim is to switch 3663 staff to that site from the nearby Severnbridge depot.

‘Exceptionals’ hit P&H Although Palmer & Harvey has picked up new and repeat business, exceptional items last year meant that it incurred a pre-tax loss of £8.6m in the year to 6 April.

Sales rose by just 0.1% to £4.2bn, although the latest

period was for 52 weeks – one week less than previously. If the time span had been exactly comparable, said a company spokesman, there would have been a 2.1% rise.

In the latest 12 months,

C&C expanded As part of a 450,000 euros outlay to expand and improve its Letterkenny Value Centre cash & carry, BWG Group has introduced a new walkway, a delivered service and upgraded technology and equipment.

Improvements have also been made at the Limerick, Castlebar and Sligo branches. Value Centre operates 22 C&Cs in Ireland.

Mills named Hyperama Group, which has cash & carries in Nottingham, Peterborough and West Bromwich, an ethnic foods business (JK Foods) and is owner of the Tiger Tiger food brand, has appointed John Mills as chairman.

Mills, a drinks trade veteran, has worked for Matthew Clark, Constellation Wines Europe and InterContinental Brands.

New operations director for Hyperama’s C&C division is Jason Barnard, formerly operations manager. Managing director of the company is Marcus Singh.

4

The company’s main site at Queenslie, Glasgow.

Edinburgh next for UWS A 65,000 sq ft dual-purpose depot in Edinburgh will be opened late next year by Today’s Group member United Wholesale Scotland.

Conversion work on the former hardware C&C, at a cost of more than £2m, is already under way.

It will be UWS’s third location. It operates from a 170,000 sq ft C&C, delivered

and bonded warehouse site in Queenslie, Glasgow, and a 22,000 sq ft depot in the city’s Maxwell Road.

Improvements are presently being carried out at the Maxwell Road unit which will more than double the sales area.

Tel: United Wholesale Scotland 0141-781 6600.

UWS In Focus: see p.18

•

P&H was hit by £5.6m in outgoings related to bank refinancing, £3.5m in costs linked to a former supplier and £1.1m in management fees connected with the purchase of Walkers Snack Services and the Costcutter link-up.

The spokesman pointed out that the company was running at an operating profit of £28.9m before goodwill amortisation.

Non-tobacco business – up 7.6% – was worth more than £1bn for the first time.

Tobacco was marginally ahead by 0.3% to £3.2bn.

The delivered wholesaler, which has worked with Sainsbury’s for 36 years, has signed a new three-year deal with the multiple, delivering tobacco to all of that company’s outlets and ambient food to its forecourts.

It is also supplying chilled food and sandwiches to all One Stop shops (owned by Sainsbury) and tobacco, ambient, chilled and frozen food to the McColl retail Group in a two-year deal which covers more than half of McColl’s 670 c-stores and 600 CTNs. Tel: Palmer & Harvey (01273) 222100.

Bestway up 4.2% in first quarter Bestway Group, whose sales in the year to June rose by 0.7% to more than £2.5bn, has made a good start to the current year.

Addressing guests at the north-west London headquarters prior to an announcement regarding the best-one chain (see p.5), chief executive Zameer Choudrey said there has been a 4.2% rise in the first

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

quarter (July to September) compared with the previous corresponding period.

“This is despite increased aggression by the multiple retailers,” he commented.

“There are three key areas for us: foodservice, in which fresh produce and meat are major factors, digital and symbols & clubs.”

Choudrey added that Bestway Batleys Foodservice

had picked up new contracts for the City of Edinburgh and Glasgow councils and for NEPO (the North East Procurement Organisation), which supplies the 12 northeast local authorities.

He also said weekly web sales were around £4m, including click & collect and delivered.

Tel: Bestway Group 0208453 1234.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

news

‘We want to be top notch’ Under the leadership of James Hall, director of symbol retailing, Bestway Group has set in place a programme of improvement for its mainstream best-one chain.

Said Hall: “Our aim is to make our retailers top notch – the best in the industry. The multiples are setting the standard to which we have to aspire. Best-one traders must demonstrate to their customers they are offering greater value while not necessarily being the cheapest.”

Hall (right) was speaking at a head office event to announce a raft of measures to make the 950-branch best-one chain (including 25 carrying the best-one plus label) even stronger.

“It’s not necessarily increasing the numbers, but making the range and quality

Price pledge Bestway and Batleys are offering catering customers a ‘Christmas Price Hold Guarantee’, covering meat, fresh & frozen vegetables, condiments and sauces. The prices will be held until 2 January.

Martin Race, operations director, said: “We have focused on what we believe are Christmas essentials in pre-packed and fresh, but have also added some exclusive festive specials such as stuffed pheasant breast and rolled turkey escalope, which are also available as singles.”

Tel: Bestway Batleys Foodservice (01738) 646666.

more appealing,” he said.

Efforts are being made to enhance the chilled and fresh element, with Bestway’s own operation taking on the responsibility, instead of leaving shop deliveries to suppliers.

There are two corporate vehicles operating out of each participating cash & carry to provide this service.

Along with the best-one focus, Bestway is also expanding its Xtra Local chain. All new retailers who fall outside the best-one category, but who require a fascia, will be offered this emblem.

Meanwhile, the original green Best-in logo is being retained by around 1,500 stores – at least for the time being, although changes are believed to be in the offing.

In total, the group has approximately 3,550 retailers carrying one of these fascias and their total annual turnover is about £500m.

The best-one package, which was introduced in 2003, last year enabled members to increase turnover by £154m, with chilled foods up 48%, coffee 73% and food to go 18%.

“We have moved away from the hub system for these stores,” said Hall, “and now every one of our cash &

Pleased with the improvements plan.

carries is responsible for best-one. We are also making significant strides in areas of the country where neither Bestway nor Batleys C&Cs are represented.”

A major new initiative, called ‘my rewards’, offers best-one retailers the chance to avail themselves of a rebate scheme, the returns depending on the amount they spend with the company each month.

The deals range from 1.5% for a monthly outlay of between £15,000 and £19,999 to 5% for those spending more than £45,000 a month with Bestway or Batleys. The credits will be shown on customers’ statements.

Goods provided to the shops in smaller cases and an even greater awareness of regional preferences are also part of the new strategy.

Tel: Bestway Group 0208453 1234.

Twinning success There are more signs that Booker is making a success of integrating the erstwhile underperforming Makro business.

Customer satisfaction at the acquired company has improved from 78.6% to 83.7% and Booker’s Blossom Soft paper products, Basics bacon and Farm Fresh fruit & veg are selling well throughout the chain.

In the 24 weeks to 13 September, pre-tax profit of the combined concern rose by 17% to just over £58m on sales ahead by 16.5% to £2.2bn.

Announcing the results last month, chief executive Charles Wilson repeated that Makro’s Eccles headquarters are being retained and he refuted suggestions that savings would be made through staff cuts.

“We have a combined payroll of 13,000,” he said.

“Within a few years we might even have more than that.

The number in our combined transport fleet is also increasing.”

Belfast is likely to be the second location where the twinned Booker/Makro branches will operate, following the opening of the first in Sheffield. Six others are planned.

Tel: Booker Group (01933) 371000.

Three tobacco thefts In three incidents involving cigarettes, thieves targeted vehicles parked near two Booker cash & carries in Kent.

At the Sidcup branch, stock worth around £2,800

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

was taken from two vans, one parked outside the depot and another at a nearby customer’s premises.

Cigarettes and tobacco valued at more than £1,200 were also stolen from a

parked vehicle at the Dartford unit. The thefts occurred over 11 days at the end of September/early October.

Tel: Booker Group (01933) 371000.

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 5

The Rise of the ‘Coffee Connoisseur’ Lynn Little, Standard Ingredients CBU Lead at NESTLÉ PROFESSIONAL® explains why when it comes to coffee - it all boils down to a question of quality When it comes to coffee, finding a great quality cup out-of-home is no longer something that is sought by consumers. It is simply expected…

The coffee market grew by a staggering 7.5% last yeari. And, with our emergence as a nation of ‘coffee connoisseurs’ comes a growing expectation of quality, both in taste and consistency. Indeed, research shows that somewhere in the region of 99 millionii ‘lost’ coffee sales in the out-of-home market can be attributed to poor quality, as people are happier to go without than to settle on ‘less-than-perfect’…

NESCAFE®, the UK’s best-loved coffeeiii, offers operators taste and consistency in every cup. Testament to this, NESCAFE® GOLD BLEND® our premium coffee with a distinctly smooth taste and rich aroma - is enjoyed by a wide range of cash and carry customers. For example, the NESCAFE® GOLD BLEND® 750g catering tin is ideal for cafés and workplaces looking to serve a quality premium coffee, the NESCAFE® &GO® self-serve machine is an ideal solution to reach people who want a coffee on the go at a multitude of locations including convenience stores and forecourts, while NESCAFE® GOLD BLEND® stick packs add quality to any hotel room tray.

For cash and carries, one thing is clear… When it comes to coffee, having a quality offer across different formats is crucial because, ultimately, the consumer is not prepared to compromise.

helping you add value At NESTLÉ PROFESSIONAL® we have the knowledge & complete range of solutions to help you to satisfy consumers and drive beverage profits.

Find out more at nestleprofessional.co.uk or call 0800 745 845 and quote ‘cash&carry’. i

ii iii

Allegra Strategy, Project Café 12, December 2012 Incite 2013 Hot Beverage Market Sizing IRI MAT 52 weeks 2012

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Best-in retailer punished A Bestway customer in Cheltenham, who received a six-month prison sentence for selling counterfeit and non-UK compliant tobacco products, has had his tobacco gantry removed by JTI – action which has met with the approval of the C&C/wholesaler.

Mohammed Sedoo trades as Central News, which carries the Best-in green and red fascia.

Paul Williams, JTI UK’s head of corporate affairs, said: “Given the conviction of this retailer, we decided that the removal of our gantry was the most appropriate course of action.

“A minority of independent retailers who get sucked into this illegal trade are giving honest, hard-working retailers a bad name.”

He added: “Customers who buy tobacco products will eventually lose faith and

Mohammed Sedoo’s Cheltenham store.

trust in their local independent shop if a perception grows that the independent trade is rife with ‘dodgy cigs’.

“Our commitment to support HM Revenue & Customs and trading standards officers is steadfast.”

Bestway’s operations director David Gilroy congratulated JTI on its stance, commenting: “There is no place for retailers who continue to break the law within the Bestway family.”

The C&C/wholesaler has a policy of monitoring retailers’ spending patterns for anomalies. Sedoo’s expenditure

with Bestway was in line with many others, with 85% of his regular outlay being on tobacco products.

“Consequently, there was no need to investigate his account,” said Gilroy.

He emphasised that Bestway is always supportive of JTI and other leading tobacco suppliers and that it does not buy any non-duty paid or grey market stock.

“We will continue to campaign for the strictest penalties possible.”

Tel: JTI (0800) 181 519.

Tel: Bestway Group 0208453 1234.

More join year-old symbol Go Local, the symbol group launched

by AG Parfett & Sons last year, now has 40 retailers sporting the new image.

Of these, 13 have the Go Local fascia, the same number carry the Go Local Extra name and 14 others are in various stages of development. They have reported sales increases of up to 40% since making the change.

“We’re delighted with the strong growth so far and we will continue to invest in the symbol group to support future growth,” said Andy Whitworth, head of customer development.

The promotional package includes marketing tools, planograms, merchandising, category insight and retail development advice.

The symbol group, with no membership or weekly fees, is an extension of Parfett’s promotional retail club.

Go Local Extra is for larger c-stores, who are rewarded with a 2% rebate

for promotions if they fully comply; Go Local Plus is aimed at those who are restricted by store size; and Go Local is an ‘entry level’ scheme for smaller retailers.

The Go Local retail club enrolled 200 stores last year, taking membership to 1,000. Retailers can join without carrying the fascia.

Sales of Go Local promotional products rose by 33% in the last 12 months, with overall income increasing by 12%, generating sales of £100m-plus.

Tel: AG Parfett & Sons 0161429 0429.

news

Switching groups Abra Wholesale, a member of Today’s Group for eight years, is switching to Landmark Wholesale at the start of the new year.

In the meantime it has been granted a licence to start selling its new group’s own brands, as well as being given access to the Lifestyle Express retail development programme.

Abra, which was established in 2003, moved to its present 75,000 sq ft warehouse in Edmonton, north London, two years ago, having previously occupied a 38,000 sq ft site a mile away.

The company, which stocks a wide range of chilled and ambient food, confectionery, soft drinks, toiletries, household products, paperware, cigarettes and licensed goods, has sales of more than £35m.

Managing director Dee Thaya said: “Licensed is relatively new for us [Abra has only been selling booze – and cigarettes – for less than

two years] and Landmark’s expertise in this area, together with its superb ownbrand ranges, will ensure we get off to a flying start.”

Landmark Wholesale managing director Martin Williams said: “This is fantastic news, especially coming

so shortly after six members of NDD joined us as a direct result of our strategic ontrade drive (Cash & Carry Management last month).

Tel: Abra Wholesale 0208887 9303.

Tel: Landmark Wholesale (01908) 255300.

Top spot for Nestlé The Dow Jones Sustainability Index has placed Nestlé as the leading food products company with a score of 88% – double the industry average.

The global index is based on an analysis of companies’ economic, environmental and social performance, including corporate governance, climate strategy, supply chain standards and labour practices.

Nestlé also achieved the maximum score for the second year running in Climate Disclosure Leadership and Performance Leadership.

Tel: Nestlé (00800) 637 85385.

Rosy Appleby Westward SPAR south-west wholesaler Appleby Westward enjoyed a record trading period during the summer, with sales rising by 7% in the three

months to the end of the August bank holiday.

Managing director Mark McCammond (right) said it was the company’s best

‘Alarming’ wine figures

performance in four years.

In July alone, some of the symbol stores achieved sales increases of 24%.

Produce was the top improver, with a 40% increase, followed by meat, chicken and fish – up by 30%.

The Saltash, Cornwall,

diverted wine intended for sale in other European states on to the UK market. It is estimated that one in 16 of the bottles of wine sold in the UK are illicit.

FWD members have seen wine sales tumble in recent years as their prices are undercut by dutyevaded stock.

Said Bielby: “The figures confirm what our members have known for some time – the supply of wine in the UK is out of control. Criminal

wholesaler, which delivers to nearly 300 SPAR stores, achieved a year-on-year sales increase of 4.7%.

Tel: Appleby Westward (01752) 854000.

AW’s annual two-day trade show in Exeter last month attracted nearly 200 symbol retailers and was supported by 150 suppliers.

FWD chief executive James Bielby (pictured) has drawn attention to ‘alarming’ figures from HM Revenue & Customs that illustrate the extent to which criminals have infiltrated the UK distribution chain for wine.

The practice, he said, has had “a devastating effect on legitimate wholesalers and retailers”.

According to HMRC, duty fraud on wine cost the Exchequer £350m in revenue in 2011-12, as criminals

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

operators have been allowed to set up and thrive in direct competition with law-abiding wholesalers.

“By evading duty, they can sell wine at more than a pound a bottle below the best market price.

“We now expect HMRC and the border force to take swift and effective action to put the rogue supply chain out of business, such as our proposal for a rigorous registration scheme for alcohol wholesalers.”

Tel: Federation of Wholesale Distributors (01323) 724952.

Spotlight on James Bielby ... see p.24

•

•

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 7

news

Glasgow C&C sells out Sher Brothers, which dates back to 1951 when it was operating as a clothing cash & carry, has sold the major part of the business to Bestway Group for an undisclosed sum.

The Glasgow-based company, with a turnover of around £100m, now trades from four C&Cs, one of which claims to have the most extensive range of food and non-food in Scotland, covering groceries, tobacco, soft drinks, confectionery, frozen foods, dairy products, OTC medicines, toiletries, Asian foods, paperware and greetings cards.

Of the other three outlets, two deal in clothing and one in hardware.

It is just the freehold food depot, with a staff of about 70, which is being sold.

Opened in 1990, it is currently a member of Landmark Wholesale – to which Bestway was affiliated until 2003.

The food and drink business being bought by Bestway.

But Sher’s link with that group will be severed, throwing into doubt the tieup of its 150-strong Lifestyle Express members. The probability is that they will change to best-one or switch to one of the other Landmark members in Glasgow.

Earlier this year financial controller Imtiaz Sher dismissed rumours that Sher Bros was in trouble. He told Cash & Carry Management (February issue): “The company to which you refer is House of Sher, a Glasgow retail DIY and hardware business. It has gone into administration because of family friction and bickering.”

Regarding the latest Sher development, he said: “We are still in the process of doing a deal. We’re just talking.”

He admitted, however, that there was likely to be a satisfactory conclusion to discussions.

The deal means Bestway Group, including Batleys, has yet another foothold in Scotland, having in recent years bought Bellevue and Martex. It brings to eight the number of branches it has north of the border.

Tel: Bestway Group 0208453 1234.

Tel: Sher Bros 0141-429 8080.

KeyStore unlocks a ‘first’ A former SPAR store in Knightswood, Glasgow, has reopened as the first joint venture between JW Filshill and the Clydebank Co-op.

It trades as KeyStore, the

168-strong group for which the wholesaler has the Scottish franchise. The same chain in England largely disappeared after 2008 when Key Lekkerland closed down.

Ian McDonald (left), Filshill sales & marketing director, with Clydebank Co-op’s chief executive Robert Sider.

8

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

The Co-op Society’s chief executive Robert Sider commented: “Working with Filshill, we have created a pristine convenience store, with a range much more suited to local needs.

“This is a significant departure from our current supply line of the Co-operative Group. Through Filshill, we can source a wider range and more Scottish products.”

The 1,200 sq ft store is aiming for a weekly turnover of £20,000. It trades from 7am-10pm and offers orderand-collection and ‘distress’ delivery services.

Tel: JW Filshill 0141-883 7071.

Clinking glasses Two of Scotland’s leading drinks wholesalers have joined forces, with Inverarity Morton buying Forth Wines for a seven-figure sum.

Combined turnover of the business is around £75m, with a total payroll of more than 200.

Forth Wines alone, which has about 50 staff, has annual sales of £24m.

Under managing director Stephen Russell, Inverarity Morton operates from a Glasgow depot and has more than 2,000 customers in the licensed trade.

Forth Wines has a 75,000 sq ft site at Milnathort, Kinross-shire.

Russell, who said the two concerns sell a similar amount of wine, added that with the use of Forth Wines’ large premises, increased distribution could be achieved.

“Forth Wines has exclusive representation in the UK for a number of great brands, including Chocolate Box (Australia), Lomond Wines (South Africa) and, in Scotland, Bodegas LAN (Spain). So the first project our buying teams will get stuck into is integrating and expanding the wine list.”

He added that although the focus is still to expand in Scotland, there is now scope to “go more aggressively” in England, where 22% of Forth Wines’ output goes but less than 10% of IM’s.

Forth Wines director Ian Cumming joins IM as commercial director and fellow director Alan Cramond becomes director of finance.

Tel: Morton (IM) 0141-649 9881.

Tel: Forth Wines (01577) 866001.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

You will sell 20% more Of these brands in the 12 weeks before Christmas*

Also le availabin in pla packs

Must stock brands * Source Kantar World Panel 12 w/e 23.12.12 vs average - except Paxo

news

‘Strength in numbers’ Now in new Moreton-inMarsh, Glos, offices after more than 40 years in business, and with eight members added in 2013, Confex is well positioned to grow even further, James Loffett, director, logistics & distribution, told guests at the opening of the new headquarters.

“Within the last six years, our central distribution operation has grown from one employee to six,” he said.

“We have all the room we need for future expansion.”

Loffet said that when the group was formed in 1972, it was renting an office from its Wolverhampton accountant.

“Now we have 17 fulltime staff at HQ and many more employed by our logistics partners at Pershore. We have 303 members – from the Shetland Isles to the Channel Isles, East Anglia to Northern Ireland, and all

James Loffett: progress and expansion.

points in between. It’s all about strength in numbers.

We also work with 198 official suppliers.

“All our members are independently owned, many are family based – both cash & carry and delivered wholesale – serving the full range of customers. ”In what was the biggest change in the company’s history in 2007, we created

More for Best-in Bestway has added to its Best-in nappy range with Super Dry, available in five sizes (2-6) covering all stages from baby to toddler.

The nappies are ‘ultra-thin and ultra-absorbent’ with flexible panels. Each one has a vitamin E-enriched lotion applied to the top layer to prevent irritation and rash.

The product comes in a

10

three-pack outer at a wholesale price of £7.99, delivering a 33% profit on return when sold at the price-marked £3.99.

The C&C/wholesaler has also extended its energy drink portfolio with two new lines under the Sours subbrand: Apple Energy and Cherry Energy.

Both 250ml varieties are available in a 35p pricemarked pack.

Bestway’s own-label energy drink sales have risen by over 20% annually (MAT September) throughout the group (including Batleys).

Tel: Bestway Group 0208453 1234.

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

Confex CD (central distribution) supplying members with goods from official suppliers through our own warehouse. This has enabled many to buy at a more competitive price in the quantities that they are comfortable with.”

Loffett said the eight new members include two who were enrolled two months ago: Adams Wholesale, of Brighton, and Birmingham-based Artic Foods. They have increased group sales to more than £1.7bn.

An extra service this year, central alcohol distribution, is already helping boost members’ beers & spirits purchasing.

Tel: Confex (01608) 652333.

Two wine awards Landmark Wholesale won two prizes for its wines at the Wholesale Quality Food & Drink Awards 2013.

The accolades went to Vintners Collection Australian Pinot Grigio (best white and rosé) and Santa Loretta Prosecco (best sparkling wine).

In addition, Landmark’s Don Fabian Tinto was shortlisted in the red wine category.

Tel: Landmark Wholesale (01908) 255300.

No smoke without ire Both Imperial Tobacco UK and JTI UK have responded strongly to last month’s decision by the European Parliament to amend the European Tobacco Products Directive.

Titus Wouda Kuipers, divisional sales director at Imperial Tobacco Group, said: “We remain extremely concerned about the scale of ill-informed and excessive regulation set to be imposed on our industry.

“Health warnings that occupy well over half of the packaging of our products are unjustified and disproportionate.

“They will not provide any additional information on the health risks of smoking but are designed solely to stigmatise smokers.”

He also referred to “misguided proposals to ban menthol tobacco products,

which threaten to further fuel illicit trade”, and proposals to ban sales of cigarettes in packs of less than 20 or roll-your-own tobacco in pouches of less than 20g, which would have a detrimental effect on retailers’ incomes.

While JTI UK supported the European Commission’s objective of reducing youth smoking, the new proposal would not achieve this goal, said Jeremy Blackburn, JTI’s head of communications.

“It has not properly been thought through, lacks reliable evidence and is unlikely to have an impact on smoking rates.

“Increasing the size of health warnings to 65% will not deliver any public health benefit,” he asserted.

Tel: Imperial Tobacco UK (0117) 963 6636.

Tel: JTI UK (0800) 181 519.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

• INTRODUCING A NEW SILKIER FEEL AND SHAPE • PERMANENT NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH OF HONEYCOMB CRISP 40g • DRIVING SALES THROUGH REINVIGORATING THE BLOCK CATEGORY AND BRINGING IN NEW CONSUMERS

STOCK UP NOW Audrey Hepburn™ © 2013 Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Luca Dotti. All rights reserved. Galaxy® Smooth Milk and Galaxy® Honeycomb Crisp are registered trademarks. ©Mars 2013

Ensure you get a healthy share of the Recommended Fixture Layout • Stock brand leaders, first in flow, in each OTC Category • Ensure a wide range is available at all times

Cough & Cold Decongestant Sore Throat

Analgesics Adult / Kids Topical

25%

40%

Bayer – Driving growth in healthcare

BEFORE

Category-led trials in two Batleys depots with clear merchandising and product flow. Results monitored to measure the benefit.

Depot Merchandising Tips

AFTER

Display advice and promotional materials

Group products together Use and by brand off site displays Keep to make fixture in high footfall displays full easier to shop areas – highlight and neat seasonal lines

Summer Essentials – Hayfever, First Aid

Availability is KEY Clearly signpost category and sub categories

Winter Essentials – Cough and Cold, Decongestants

healthcare market Stomach Heartburn & Indigestion AntiDiarrhoea

Wellbeing Vitamins Anti Fatigue Lip Care Eye Care

Seasonal Hayfever Allergy First Aid

10%

12.5%

12.5%

FLOW

Percentages relate to share of shelf AFTER

Swindon Depot +6% Total OTC Category Uplift YOY sales in first 6 weeks

Fareham Depot making the fixture easy to shop through splitting by ailment

BEFORE

Top category Convenience is key to insights healthcare due to distress and needs-based Healthcare purchase in convenience seeing value growth of For further advice contact Ceuta Healthcare on 0844 243 6661.

11%

delivered

Taking extra care Brakes has partnered with care home experts, including the British Dietetic Association, to launch a programme of support for this sector.

It provides caterers with the knowledge and skill they need to serve a wide range of ‘nutritionally balanced, appealing and high quality food solutions’ to meet care home requirements.

With more people now living to an older age, the number of places in residential care homes is forecast to rise from around 450,000 to 1.3 million by 2031, putting more pressure on a comprehensive care package, with food at the forefront.

The Brakes programme includes a new Care Home Food Guide, general online

providers, such as Four Seasons Healthcare, whose executive head chef Christine Hamilton said: “This is a useful aid to our chefs, with handy tips and ideas, providing inspiration for care sector caterers.”

Tel: Brakes Group (01233) 206000.

Angelee Jabble has been appointed to the new role of Brakes’ healthcare sector manager. She was formerly primary care manager at BMI Healthcare.

•

Front cover of the guide.

support and a free online training programme, developed in partnership with Nestlé Professional.

The guide has been produced with Brakes’ team of nutritionists, using insight from industry experts, the BDA and major care home

Spread three ways A range of three spreads has been launched by Fairway Foodservice – Sunflower, Soft and Buttery. All come in 2kg packs.

Steve Jeavons, category purchasing manager for the £494m turnover group, said: “The products not only offer high quality in terms of taste and texture, but also come at affordable prices.”

Tel: Fairway Foodservice (01422) 319100.

Swish-enbank!

JJ improvements Installation of a ‘supply chain planning and optimisation system’ by JJ Food Service was completed in what the IT supplier, RELEX, described as a record four-and-ahalf months.

Chief operational officer of the delivered wholesaler Mushtaque Ahmed (right) said: “We were planning to do a three-month pilot with just three of our buyers, but well before then we had all our buyers, at all of our locations, and all of our products, running on the system.”

Ahmed added that installation has resulted in JJ clearing out many of its nonperforming lines.

He said: ”Before the pilot was completed, we had already cut our inventory by around 15% across the

14

board. We’re now seeing improvements in availability – in some cases by more than 10%. And we expect further improvements.”

Ahmed said the wholesaler is now running the system independently of RELEX, describing its power and ease of use as “superb”.

Tel: JJ Food Service (08719) 730999.

Graeme Kempton, manager of the Enfield depot, with one of the newly designed vehicles.

Vehicles operating under the Swithenbank Fresh & Fine Foods banner – sister company of 3663 – have a new livery.

Lorries show the breadth of products available from the company, using a food landscape.

Seasonal changes 3663 is promoting the ‘Taste of Winter’ on its website, which reflects seasonal food changes. It follows similar activity for the summer.

The site showcases the best winter products and

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

ingredients the company has to offer, along with recipe ideas.

The contents will be changed each month to include the latest deals.

Tel: 3663 (0370) 3663 000.

Swithenbank’s managing director Andrew Tiplady said: “There’s no doubt that the new livery captures the wonderful products available. We are known for our range of specially selected lines (more than 900), sourced from across the globe, which we deliver to our customers’ table every day.”

The wholesaler, based in Bradford, has a 64-strong fleet.

It comprises four artics, 50 x 18-tonners (chilled) and 10 chilled vehicles ranging in size from 3.5-7.5 tonnes.

Tel: Swithenbank Fresh & Fine Foods (01274) 470200.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

bestway awards

...and a good time was had by all It’s taken time, but at last Bestway Group chief executive Zameer Choudrey has emerged as a stand-up comedian of some merit, writes Mervyn Gilbert.

For reasons best known to himself – or maybe because his cohorts have told him to interact more with his audience – he has always ended his address at corporate functions with a joke.

Mostly, the punchline has been delivered without warning and guests have applauded, somewhat embarrassed, not realising the humorous climax has been reached.

At the group’s 12th retailer development awards, held at London’s Grosvenor House, Choudrey adopted the same format – serious stuff about the group’s progress and its aims for the future (see p.4), followed by the ‘must do’ joke.

This time, the subject of his wisecrack was the House of Man and the House of Woman – how each sex chooses a partner.

After an amusing build-up, with improved diction and excellent timing, he turned a captive audience of nearly 500 with straight faces into a mass of clapping and laughing guests – a hard act to follow for ‘specialist’ comedian, Stephen K Amos.

Award winners Overall winner was Ishtiaq Qureshi, of Llanrumney Stores, Cardiff. He collected a prize of £10,000.

Some 22 other retailers shared a pot of £22,000. They were: Northern winner: Mohammed Hameed and Mohammed Aslam, Lightbowne, Post Office, Moston, Manchester.

Southern winner: Anil Mittal, Slip End Superstore, Luton.

Scottish winner: Mohammed Issa MBE, 1st Stop 2 Shop, Dundee.

Community award: Sritharan Vairamuttu and Rahini Sritharan, Amiu’s General Store, Pondhill, near Oxford.

Best-one national winner: Vacaas Ali, Washington, Tyne & Wear.

Northern runner-up: Muneeb Sarwar, RZ Supermarket, Redditch.

Southern runner-up: Paul and Gail Mather, Sherston PO, Malmesbury.

Overall winners Ishtiaq and Sadia Qureshi, of Llanrumney Stores, Cardiff, with Bestway Group chief executive Zameer Choudrey (left) and Bestway C&C md Younus Sheikh.

Scottish runner-up: Abdul Rashid, Salina Mini Market, New Stevenston, North Lanarkshire.

Best-one runner-up: Nayan Amin, Dunstable.

Category awards: Chilled & frozen: Mr and Mrs Cheema, Avenue Food & Wine, Sheerness.

General grocery: David Leak, Much Hoole Village Shop, Preston.

Household, health & beauty: Kiran Patel, Buttershaw Food Stores, Bradford.

Tobacco: Harinder Khela, Khela Food & Wine, Springfield, Leeds.

Confectionery: Muhammad Nadeem, Elves Food City, North London.

Crisps & snacks: Sukhwinder Badhan, Midland News & PO, Wychbold, Droitwich.

Soft drinks: Zaffar Mahmood, Bestbuy, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.

Water: Santosh Sundaresan, BMP Star Supermarket, SE London.

Wines & spirits: Kuruparan Suppiah, Hatters News, Luton.

Beer & cider: Kalpesh Raja, Parker Drive Service Station, Leicester.

Petfood: Aravinthan Jeyasingam, Ashton Stores, Luton.

Baby food: Thangarajah Karunakaran, Bungalow Shop, Luton.

Best-one winner Vacaas Ali, whose store is in Washington, Tyne & Wear, with director of symbol retailing James Hall.

With Zameer Choudrey are northern winners Mohammed Hameed and Mohammed Aslam.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 15

Rustle up a Tasty Profit with Kepak Hot, Quick & Tasty snacks and meals (HQT) experts Kepak Convenience Foods is working with Bestway on a sales-boosting three-month category management project.

We’re looking to show how continually stocking the right products, improving product visibility and using point of sale, both at depot and store level can really help to boost sales.

Kepak helped Bernie to remerchandise the fixture and has advised her on the right range and the benefits of using POS.

The project shows that, by working closely together, cash and carry depots, retailers and manufacturers like Kepak can all generate sales increases.

This resulted in the hot snacking range increasing from 2 products to 5, reflecting the profile of her customer base, making best use of eye-catching point of sale material and highlighting to Bernie the benefits of enabling customers to heat products in-store with a Kepak-branded microwave, which she is now considering.

Last month, we met Amrez Akhtar, General Manager at the Bestway depot in Stockport. Kepak has been working with him to enhance the chilled room with an eye-catching fixture which has increased sales and footfall. This month, we introduce the retailer and look at how depots can help to promote best practice in relation to merchandising Hot, Quick & Tasty products in-store.

Bernie McCumisky has worked at the Best One store in Stockport for over 20 years and has seen it run under several different symbol groups. It’s a very busy store located on a main road in the Reddish area, close to three schools.

The store is open from 06:30 to 22:00 and sells everything from everyday groceries and alcohol to lottery tickets, as well as offering a paystation service for utility bills. There are three members of staff. The store is busiest in the morning, with children on their way to school and adults on their way to work. Then there’s the lunchtime peak with workmen looking for something to eat. This is followed by the after-school rush and then the early evening brings people on their way home from work.

HQT COMPRISES 4 SUB SECTORS MICRO SNACKING

QUICK SERVE MICRO MEALS

MICRO PASTRY

CHILLED SOUP

Kepak Convenience Foods’ John Armstrong says the dual effect of making products more visible in depots and educating retailers will have a really positive impact on both the depots’ and retailers’ sales.

This project is all about working as a team, getting the basics right and increasing sales in the process. HQT is a dynamic category and we’re going to show how to make the most of it.”

John Armstrong - Kepak Convenience Foods

BEFORE

ADVICE FOR DEPOTS

Focus on availability

Range

• Make sure there is good availability of the core range products on and off promotions.

• Kepak is working closely with depots to offer retailers the optimum choice of micro snacking products.

• Educate retailers on the importance of driving availability.

•

Enhance visibility • Use POS at the main fixture all year round and pallet displays off the main fixture for key promotions.

The focus is on presenting market-leading products such as Rustlers at their very best, drawing retailers’ attention to core range best-sellers such as the Rustlers Quarter Pounder, BBQ Rib and Chicken Sandwich.

• Ensure that retailers know what the must stock lines are.

• Use standees outside the chilled room to drive footfall into the chiller.

• Work with suppliers to provide retailers with POS to help drive category visibility.

Next month we will have a summary of the project, with the all-important results round-up, to show how the project has had an impact on sales.

Clearly communicate retailer POR • Ensure SELs are in place as they clearly communicate price and assist in reordering.

AFTER

ether, closely tog g in k r o w By ots, carry dep cash and urers manufact d n a s r ile a ret s erate sale can all gen g y followin b s e s a e r inc tices best prac www.kepaktrade.co.uk

01772 688 300

@kepaktrade

in focus

Growing in all directions

main destinations are the Middle East and Africa. Sarwar estimates first-year export turnover will be around £8m.

At the much smaller Maxwell Road site (18,000 sq ft), which opened in 1977 and is about a 15-minute drive from the Queenslie unit, a two-phase development programme, costing £2m, is now into the second stage.

Sarwar, the Scottish Wholesale Association’s president, Mervyn Gilbert hears about United Wholesale says: “The first involved extending the car park and tobacco room and building new offices. The second, which will be Scotland’s expansion plans. completed by next April, involves the demolition of an These are heady days for United Wholesale Scotland – and adjoining building so we can more than double our area to not just because it will soon be offering licensed goods for over 40,000 sq ft and include a first-time licensed section. the first time at the smaller of its two Glasgow sites.

“Of the increased sales area, about 8,000 sq ft will accomIt is also in the early stages of opening an Edinburgh cash modate existing categories while 12,000 sq ft will be for & carry and has just announced that former Today’s Group beers, wines & spirits.” managing director Rodney Hunt has been appointed a nonAlthough many customers presently use both Glasgow executive director. There is also a secondary retail fascia depots, when Maxwell Road starts to offer licensed goods, being launched to join the mainstream Day-Today chain.

Sarwar reckons there will be far less flitting from one to the Managing director Asim Sarwar has every reason to be other. pleased with the way business is progressing, and he will In terms of category strengths, tobacco accounts for 45% surely continue to be over the next few years in view of all of UWS turnover, with soft drinks, beers and ciders occupythe expansion. ing the next places.

He says: “Last year we turned over £202m, which was Work on the Edinburgh site, at Newbridge, represents a 10% up on 2011, and our pre-tax profit grew by 22% to £2m-plus development. The depot will utilise a former £2.06m. This year – not including the developments, which 65,000 sq ft hardware warehouse. will have only just been completed – we’re anticipating a 7% “We are aiming to be open by next September,” says rise to about £210m. But by the end of 2015, we are targetSarwar. “We will have a delivered option as well as cash & ing over £300m.” carry, which will be licensed.”

UWS, whose 3,000 registered customers are all convenUWS presently has a payroll of 195, But when the ience stores, is claimed to be the largest C&C/wholesale Maxwell Road changes have been completed and the operation in Glasgow, accounting for between 35% and 40% Edinburgh operation is up and running, that figure will grow of the city’s trade. to more than 250.

Around 70% of the turnover comes from cash & carry, The company is a major supporter of Today’s Group’s with 30% from delivered trade – a fast growing segment.

Day-Today fascia programme, with around 450 independent The main depot, in Queenslie, Glasgow, was opened in retailers expected to be carrying the logo and subscribing to 2007, five years after the original United Wholesale business the disciplines by 2015. was split into UWS and Landmark member United Wholesale UWS is also enrolling traders into its embryonic U-Save Glasgow. The 170,000 sq ft site includes a bonded warefascia. Further details will be unveiled once the scheme is house and the company’s distribution centre, serviced by 10 fully under way. vehicles (up to 15 when increased business warrants).

This year the company began a category partnership “Our delivered trade,” says scheme, with 80–85% of its Sarwar, “covers Scotland’s censuppliers agreeing to join, tral belt and includes Ayrshire, including Mars in confecLanarkshire, Edinburgh, Fife, tionery, Britvic in soft drinks and up to Stirling. And we will and Red Bull in energy drinks. soon be introducing an onWhat about promotions – trade division. and not just those run by “Delivered business is Today’s Group? expanding, not just because “We always try to do someexisting customers are buying thing different,” says Sarwar. more and new ones are joining “We are well known in the marus, but also because traders are ket for this and have projected switching from cash & carry. ourselves in this way through a Our minimum drop is 80 cases video we recently showed to of non-promotional goods.” our suppliers.”

UWS has also just launched With all the enhancements an export division embracing a taking place throughout the wide range of items. While company, be sure that a products are being despatched remake of the film is already in Sarwar: Sales of £300m projected by 2015. to all parts of the globe, the progress!

18

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

• INTRODUCING A NEW SILKIER FEEL AND SHAPE • PERMANENT NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH OF HONEYCOMB CRISP 40g & 114g AND NUT CRUNCH 114g • DRIVING SALES THROUGH REINVIGORATING THE BLOCK CATEGORY AND BRINGING IN NEW CONSUMERS

STOCK UP NOW Galaxy® Smooth Milk, Galaxy® Honeycomb Crisp and Galaxy® Nut Crunch are registered trademarks. ©Mars 2013

caterforce conference

Delivering on growth plans Caterforce attracted 220 supplier executives to its conference in Manchester last month. It outlined the progress it has made and how it intends to build on this to become the leading foodservice buying group. John Wood reports.

Caterforce is well on its way to achieving its target of £75m like-for-like growth in the three years to the end of 2014, managing director Nick Redford told the group’s supplier conference.

He said that the first conference in 2011 was titled ‘Plan for Growth’, while this year’s theme ‘Delivering Growth’ was a reference to the £57m like-for-like growth achieved in the first two years.

At the first event, Caterforce was celebrating topping £200m turnover but, with the like-for-like growth and the addition of Castell Howell as the seventh member, it will end this year £140m ahead of that figure.

Members’ willingness to invest in their businesses was one of the factors that had underpinned the growth, said Redford, with £17.63m spent between 2011-13 on new and expanded depots, new equipment and additional staff, and ongoing plans for further developments (see panel).

Another area Caterforce focused on – its range – was covered by group buying manager Gary Mullineux. The group had consolidated volume among its core suppliers, he said, and had managed to increase substantially its Chef’s Selection own brand. The frozen range had grown threefold, while ambient had gone from just two products to 160.

Overall there were five times the number of own-brand products than there were two years ago.

Turning to the activities of the head office, Redford said the departure of Caterforce from the Today’s Group in May had been an important step in its growth. He commented: “We need to be pilots not passengers. We need to speak to suppliers and tailor terms to our needs.”

Mullineux then outlined how the group had improved its sales to customers. He said the primary aim was to get existing customers to increase their basket spend. It had

Redford: “We need to be pilots not passengers. We need to speak to suppliers and tailor terms to our needs.”

20

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

Investing in the future Caterforce members have been investing in infrastructure to support future growth, both for the individual members and for the group’s head office.

During 2011 to 2013, members spent a total of £17.63m on developments such as new and expanded depots, new vehicles, IT and additional staff. Plans for a number of new initiatives were also revealed.

Redford unveiled the prototype for a new market data system, processing sales data from all seven members, and invited suppliers to provide input on what they would be looking for as it is developed.

Pioneer Foodservice and Lynas Foodservice are both introducing food halls, which Lynas managing director Andrew Lynas said could open up a new customer base.

Lynas is also installing automated conveyor belt technology in its depot.

Hunts Foodservice is spending £750,000 on multitemperature vehicles and a further £200,000 on voice picking technology, while Pilgrim Foodservice and Philip Dennis Foodservice are both investing in their IT systems.

Castell Howell Foods, the newest member of the group, will be making a multi-million pound investment in a new butchery facility next year, followed by an extension to its hub depot in Cross Hands.

succeeded, with customers spending on average an extra £680.

One of the questions most often asked, said Redford, was about new members of the group. “We are working on it,” he explained, but added they had to meet strict criteria as he was not interested in just adding turnover to the group. New members would need to have a high overlap in range with the group, to bring in buying synergies, and to have a low geographical overlap with existing members.

Another important service for members is the centralised marketing resource provided at head office. Charlotte Thompson, publications manager at Caterforce head office, and Rachel Sewter, marketing manager at Pilgrim Foodservice, made a presentation on the range of marketing material that can be provided and the opportunities this offers suppliers to highlight their products.

In addition to a full range of printed material, they are developing online resources for use by the sales teams and to provide information for customers. They are also working on a project to target direct mailing to specific customer groups and to extend their marketing online and via email.

Redford rounded off the conference by revealing that Caterforce intended to hold its next supplier event in 2015.

He said he was confident that by then the group would have achieved its goal of being the number one dedicated buying consortium in the foodservice sector, and would be ready to outline how it intended to continue growing.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

achievers

Mixed fortunes

SEPTEMBER PERFORMANCE

Although AG Barr has held its lead, there is a fair amount of movement among the other suppliers.

22

AUGUST score/position

POSITION

COMPANY

SCORE (max. 50)

1

AG Barr

44.57

44.22

1

2

Britvic Soft Drinks

40.77

37.08

5

3

Tunnock’s

39.60

39.49

2

4

Coca-Cola Enterprises

37.40

37.10

4

5

JTI (Gallaher)

36.14

37.43

3

6

Nestlé 1st Choice

35.70

34.93

9

7

Imperial Tobacco

35.69

35.72

8

8

Tayto

35.42

34.75

11

9

Heineken

34.98

36.70

6

10

Maxxium

34.94

34.80

10

11

Highland Spring

34.74

34.57

12

12

C&C Group

33.77

34.14

14

13

Carlsberg

33.61

30.94

23

14

Whyte & Mackay

33.30

33.88

15

15

PepsiCo

32.93

33.65

16

16

GlaxoSmithKline

32.57

34.26

13

17

Mondelez

31.81

36.05

7

=18

Diageo

31.59

32.32

18

=18

Red Bull

31.59

33.21

17

20

SHS

31.14

31.83

19

21

United Biscuits

29.96

31.22

22

22

Cott Beverages

29.86

31.77

20

23

Mars

29.43

30.40

24

24

Unilever

28.91

29.18

26

25

Kellogg’s

27.45

31.68

21

26

Heinz

25.33

29.52

25

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

achievers

Make your vote count For the Achievers Best Overall Service award, wholesalers in Scotland are now asked to score each supplier based on its performance in October. Who deserves extra marks?

OCTOBER PERFORMANCE

Deliveries inc Admin (max. 15 points) write N/A if not direct

Supplier Contact (max. 15 points)

Scottish Focus (max. 15 points)

Packaging & Merchandising (max. 5 points)

TOTAL (max. 50 points)

AG Barr Britvic Soft Drinks C&C Group

(inc Magners/Tennent’s)

Carlsberg Coca-Cola Enterprises Cott Beverages Diageo GlaxoSmithKline Heineken Heinz Highland Spring Imperial Tobacco JTI (Gallaher) Kellogg’s Mars Maxxium Mondelez Nestlé 1st Choice PepsiCo

(retail/confec)

(inc Walkers)

Red Bull SHS Tayto

(Golden Wonder)

Tunnock’s Unilever United Biscuits Whyte & Mackay

Company: ................................................................

Contact name: .........................................................

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

Please email your completed form to: kirsti.sharratt@virgin.net or fax to 01334 479695 Closing date: Friday 22 November

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 23

spotlight

sponsored by

Admiration for the self-made This month’s article features James Bielby, chief executive of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors.

What has been the major milestone or turning point of your career?

The major milestone in this phase of my working life was joining the FWD in 2009. It was a big step up at the time but it was great to be given the opportunity, which hopefully I have made the most of.

Who has been the biggest inspiration to you?

I admire the FWD members hugely. Many are self-made and have built businesses from inauspicious beginnings in some cases. They are also generally really nice people to work for.

The wholesale trade is an inspirational one to work in, on both the wholesaler and supplier side.

How do you maintain a work/life balance and how have developments in technology affected this?

It can be hard. There is always something more you could be doing and the concept of 9-5 is a thing of the past. One way I manage it is to prioritise the delivery of the FWD strategic plan over more tactical day-to-day issues. It’s very easy to do urgent tasks rather than important ones. The BlackBerry is a boon but it can take over. Not taking it on holiday is a start!

Cross-sector experience James Bielby, 38, studied English Literature at Cardiff University then worked for a year for Caterite, a delivered wholesaler based in the Lake District. After that he moved to London and joined News International as a researcher.

He subsequently became a journalist and worked on various local and trade titles before being appointed chief executive of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors in 2009.

What most frustrates you in business (and in life generally)?

I try not to get frustrated by work issues. Little things can be frustrating sometimes but if an issue is significant it can be worked through and resolved. More generally, I get annoyed by tourists on the London Underground. They really get in the way when you are in a hurry!

If you were able to retire tomorrow, would you, and if so, how would you spend your time?

I think I might be too young to retire! Outside work there are more things to do than time to do them but certainly not for the rest of my life. I suspect I would be bored to tears.

What advice would you give someone starting his/her first job?

Listen to others, don’t think you have all the answers, and talk to as many people as you can about the job. Most important is to try to enjoy it.

What type of business would you have gone into if it wasn’t C&C/wholesale?

Sadly, I have missed my chance to open the batting for Yorkshire. One thing I would like to do one day is some more academic study, like a PhD. That life really appeals: reading and thinking all day.

James Bielby with his daughters Amelia and Freya.

24

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

If you had a million pounds to invest in business, how would you spend the money?

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the economy but they sometimes struggle to get investment. That money could be used to help them grow their businesses.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE LUNCH 4th December 2013 Hedsor House, Buckinghamshire

Coffee in the Central Hall Business session in the Drawing Room ‘SUPPLIER INNOVATION IN RETAIL CLUBS’ Speakers include: • Martin Swadling (left), head of Premier, Booker • James Hall (top right), director of symbol retailing, Bestway • Nikkita Mulchandani (right), retail club & marketing manager, Imperial Cash & Carry Cash & Carry Management AWARDS Lunch in the Ballroom Places are strictly limited. To book, phone 01342 712100 or email mail.winlove@btconnect.com

soft drinks

Activity creates interest Sales figures testify to the resilience of the soft drinks category.

BevTrac: a spring-loaded shelf management system.

With value growth of 2.1% (Nielsen MAT 29 June 2013), the total soft drinks category remains a strong performer. It continues to fare well in the impulse channel too, growing at 1.9%.

Cola is worth £1.6bn in total grocery and £435.4m in impulse, with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE’s) brands valued at £1.16m in total grocery and £347m in impulse. Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are the top two performing brands overall.

Coke Zero is showing 12.2% growth.

CCE’s core flavoured carbonates account for 41% of flavoured carbonate sales within the impulse channel. Dr Pepper Fruit Flavour 500ml, Sprite Lemon and Lime 500ml and Fanta Orange 500ml are all within the top five flavoured carbonate immediate consumption skus, in both total grocery and impulse.

The 1.75-litre pack size for Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke has been designed to make take-home formats of cola more accessible by offering value to convenience shoppers. The contour-shaped bottle delivers increased in-store standout and is also available as a £1.79 price-marked pack.

CCE introduced a slimline 250ml can for Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero to drive sales of soft drinks in on-the-go environments. The 250ml format is available in a plain can and as a 45p PMP. Vanilla Coke has been reintroduced to the market and is available in both immediate consumption (330ml can and 500ml PET bottle) and future consumption (6/8 x 330ml cans and 1.5-litre PET bottle) formats. The brand is also presented in a range of PMPs designed specifically for the convenience channel.

Glacéau Vitaminwater is growing at 13.5%. All variants now contain a stevia-based and naturally-sourced sweetener, spring water, all-natural flavours and no artificial colours. The eight styles feature a revised blend of vitamins and minerals.

Along with the introduction of Fanta Peach & Apricot, previous customer-exclusive variant Fanta Red Fruits has been rolled out to all channels and last year’s limited-edition Mango & Passion Fruit is now a permanent addition to the range.

CCE remains committed to a broad choice of PMPs and its

26

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

updated portfolio includes: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Cherry Coke 500ml PET at 2 for £2; and Fanta, Fanta Fruit Twist, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Oasis 500ml at £1.

CCE has demonstrated its support of the convenience channel by investing in a national trial of BevTrac – a springloaded shelf management system that is designed to drive on-the-go soft drinks sales.

BevTrac aims to aid retailers in improving merchandising standards and product visibility as part of a programme that will target 3,000 convenience retailers.

The BevTrac system is said to offer a number of benefits to retailers: Product lanes always look full due to a spring-loaded ‘pusher’ action.

Brands are signposted to the shopper.

Product standout is increased by using sector and brandspecific PoS and labelling.

Re-stocking is easier – spring-loaded lanes are used to keep products in order.

The frequency of out-of-stocks is reduced.

BevTrac has demonstrated an 8.5% volume uplift in store (Coca-Cola Hellenic BevTrac trials, Ireland 2008/2009).

Director at CTS Trading, Dee Sedani, who already has BevTrac in his shops, says: “I installed BevTrac in my stores at my own expense and the uplift in sales was about 16.3%.

The time saved on front facing was about six to seven hours per week.”

Retailers can call (01733) 284988 for further information.

• • • • •

‘Major profit opportunity’ The forthcoming festive season presents a major profit opportunity for retailers, according to AG Barr.

“In the eight weeks leading up to Christmas, 29% more carbonates are sold in the UK (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, total carbonates, 4wks ending 24 December 2012 vs winter average, total coverage),” explains Adrian Troy, head of marketing. “That’s why we’re spending three times more on marketing support than last year, which means consumer awareness of our brands will be at an all-time high.”

Large pack sizes are particularly important during the Christmas period.

In 2012 IRN-BRU and Barr family twolitre packs performed ahead of the market, with seasonal sales increases of 35%. IRN-BRU and Barr multipack cans showed a 65% seasonal uplift (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, total carbonates, two-litre packs, 4 wks ending 24 December 2012 vs winter average, total coverage).

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

T I F O R P FROM OUR

S D N A R B G N TOP SELLI

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THE TASTE OF BRITAIN

soft drinks As part of its £1m Christmas support package, IRN-BRU will be running digital and social media activity throughout December and will also benefit from seasonal pack graphics featuring the popular Snowman character. A range of PoS material will enable retailers to create in-store theatre.

The Barr family range is currently growing at 11% (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, total carbonates, 4wks ending 17 August 2013, total coverage), and is now worth £47m (estimated retail value based on AG Barr sales data).

Rubicon, the UK’s number one exotic juice drink brand (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, exotic juices, MAT to 20 July 2013, total coverage) has a new packaging design for its carbonates range which is currently growing at 35% (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, flavoured carbonates, MAT to 17 August 2013, total coverage).

Barr Bubblegum is now a permanent addition to the Barr range.

New products have played an integral role in the success of the Barr brand, which is currently growing at 10% year on year (Nielsen Scantrack, value sales, MAT to 14 September 2013, total impulse).

Party prizes Britvic Soft Drinks has brought back its limited-edition J2O Glitter Berry for the party season.

Glitter Berry is a combination of red grape, cherry and a hint of spice with edible gold glitter that sparkles when the bottle is shaken. This is its third year in the market.

The brand is also offering consumers the chance to win one of three parties worth up to £20,000 each, to celebrate Fireworks Night on a country estate, Christmas in a London townhouse or New Year in Edinburgh.

The on-pack promotion is available across all bottles and cans in the J2O range which are ‘dressing up’ with gold crowns. The festive gold-cap and goldtab will create standout on-shelf. Instant prizes ranging from hampers to festive dress-up kits are also up for grabs.

J2O Glitter Berry will benefit from the halo effect of the £750,000 marketing support for the total J2O brand, leading with a TV campaign, print, social and in-store activation with impactful PoS material.

Continuing to drive consumer engagement for the Pepsi brand, Britvic Soft Drinks and PepsiCo UK have once again partnered with The X Factor and launched a new promotion offering consumers the chance to win tickets to the final of the talent show. The promotion runs across the full Pepsi range, including Pepsi MAX, Pepsi Diet and Pepsi.

Building on the brand’s ‘Live for now’ positioning, the promotion sees winners announced via SMS and email during the Saturday and Sunday night shows. The campaign has been created to tap into the trend for great nights in and is supported by an in-store and on-pack campaign.

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• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

Premium brands S. Pellegrino, produced and bottled by Nestlé, is the number one premium sparkling water brand (IRI total market, value sales 52 w/e 27 April 2013).

Following the growing trend of consumers purchasing their premium bottled water at local convenience stores more regularly, S. Pellegrino is now available in a smaller onthe-go format of 4 x 50cl packs. The brand is also available in 6 x 1-litre packs.

All Market Europe, which manufactures Vita Coco 100% Coconut Water, has launched Vita Coco Orange in one-litre packs.

Vita Coco 100% Natural Coconut Water is made from only one ingredient: fresh coconut water from young green coconuts. Vita Coco Orange includes the taste of fresh orange fruit puree and features just 18 calories per 100ml.

The new orange flavour promises half the amount of sugar and calories of traditional juices and smoothies and is available in 330ml, 500ml (resealable), and one-litre sizes.

Saka Natural Mineral Water, distributed by Navson, is continually evaluating its product quality and packaging and has upgraded the sports cap on the 500ml bottle to a new ‘easyopen’ version.

The brand continues to support sporting bodies, organisations and teams, as well as individual endeavours and sporting events across the UK. Already long-term sponsors of Sports Aid, which helps the next generation of British sports stars, Saka is now also the water brand of choice of Premier League football’s Fulham FC, Premiership rugby giants London Irish RFC and British Athletics.

During the summer the brand boosted its product portfolio with the launch of Saka Kids, which is the same awardwinning Saka water with a naturally occurring 8.22pH balance, but in a 330ml, 100%-recyclable bottle with a bespoke kids’ design label and distinctive yellow sports cap.

The brand also introduced SOL, a new Saka butterfly character designed to appeal to children and parents.

Saka Natural Mineral Water’s purity of source, quality and natural mineral content are officially recognised by the SGS Fresenius Institute, which ensures compliance with set European directives. The brand has also been awarded the iTQi Crystal Taste Award – the top recognition given to a product for consistent proof of excellence.

Fruit flavours Sunmagic, the 100% pure fruit juice, smoothie and juice drink brand from Multiple Marketing, is now one of the most widely distributed 100% pure fruit juice, 100% pure fruit smoothie and juice drink brands in the UK, with a current retail sales value of £21m.

Following the launch of three new flavours to the range, the company now has 11 one-litre flavours available to all trade channels as well as 13 variants in 500ml bottles.

The three new products comprise

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BRV71187_13

Tango and the Tango device are trademarks of Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd.

soft drinks Sunmagic Orange & Mango Juice Drink, Sunmagic Apple & Elderflower Juice Drink, and Summer Delight, a summer fruits-flavoured juice drink.

The drinks are packaged in 500ml PET bottles and available in both PMPs and non-price-marked formats.

Brand manager Razin Ali says: “We are very excited to be launching our three new flavours. The launches give consumers access to flavour combinations which are normally only seen in the not-from-concentrate category in the major multiples.

“We are launching price-marked packs as an option for retailers. According to him! data, 71% of customers are more likely to buy a product with a price-marked pack, and the majority of retailers (57%) agree that price-marked packs will be the biggest driver of sales increases over the next 12 months.”

The Sunmagic brand is growing, with sales for the first half of 2013 up 24% year on year. Sunmagic is now one of the largest bottle volume 100%-pure Fairtrade juice and juice drink suppliers.

According to James Logan, commercial director at

BUYER’S VIEW FROM HQ Bill Taylor, soft drinks & confectionery trading manager at Parfetts Cash & Carry, says: “The soft drinks category is showing good growth, mainly driven by water on the back of the hot weather. I don’t believe the sales prospects for this winter will be any different to the previous year.”

Regarding significant trends in the category and new product development, Taylor says that sports and energy drinks are the ones to watch out for. “I think new sour flavours will do well too.

“Own-label sports/energy drinks are doing best of all, because of the low retail price on these packs. Young people especially are buying these instead of major impulse brands.

“In terms of which suppliers give the wholesale channel the best support and how do they do it, I believe it’s unfair to pick out individual suppliers. We have a good relationship with all our soft drink suppliers. The biggest issue for most suppliers this year was availability after the good weather.”

Taylor reports that recent promotional prices have been fairly static. “The problem we face is the price we see in the multiples for certain brands and grey market GB stock.”

He adds: “Although every category within our business is important, we are a traditional cash & carry and soft drinks is a large category for us.”

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• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

Gerber Juice Company, consumers are looking for more interesting and varied drinks to enjoy both in and out of the home. Alongside price and quality, a key consideration for people creating drinks at home is convenience.

Del Monte Occasions combines popular fruits and flavours to create classic cocktails with a twist. The juices can be enjoyed with or without alcohol, offering versatility during the festive period.

“There has been a real appetite for the Del Monte Occasions range, and our Pineapple Mojito blend has tapped into the popularity of this classic cocktail – Mojitos are currently ranked number one within the on-trade,” continues Logan. “Early next year, we are launching some new recipes on other popular cocktail recipes.”

Del Monte Naturally Light uses zero-calorie natural sweeteners such as stevia and was awarded Soft Drinks Product of the Year, which features on the packaging and drives additional interest with shoppers.

Just Juice now comes in a mango variant, and Sunpride is available in several exotic flavours including Apple & Lychee.

Just Juice one-litre and 500ml PMPs, along with the 200ml range, feature a price promotion over Christmas.

Del Monte Fruit Burst is sugar free and contains a B vitamin blend to help aid concentration. Um Bongo was also relaunched this year, along with Sunny D, which has two new flavours in its range – Orange & Raspberry and Orange & Passion Fruit – both in the 500ml ready-to-drink size and onelitre bottles. The Florida variant remains a popular kids’ juice drink, adding value with 94% of sales being incremental to the category (Kantar WPO September 2013). The brand is in the top 10 bestselling soft drinks in the impulse sector (Nielsen Scantrack data July 2013).

For further information: AG Barr (01236) 852400 All Market Europe 020-7183 7312 Britvic (0845) 758 1781 Coca-Cola Enterprises (08457) 227222 Gerber Juice Company (01278) 441600 Multiple Marketing 020-7326 7623 Navson (0845) 644 0992 Nestlé (01923) 897700 PepsiCo (0800) 032 4490

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PRICE-MARKED PACKS The January issue of Cash & Carry Management will include a feature on Price-marked Packs

To advertise in this issue, contact Martin Lovell on (01342) 712100

Promo Checker is a website reporting national promotional activity from suppliers in key wholesale outlets

“Promo Checker is a user-friendly tool that enables me to monitor competitor activity at the click of a button.

It saves me a lot of time as I do not need to go through individual promotion brochures/leaflets any more.�

Soraya Hussain, Customer Marketing Manager, Mondelez International

For further information:

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk tel: 01342 712100

energy drinks

Energy peps up soft drink sales A constant stream of innovative new flavours and formats, together with increased appeal to consumers seeking value for money, is driving growth in the energy drinks category.

Sports & energy is generating substantial growth across the total soft drinks market and the latest data shows that the sectors are up by 1.3% and 9.2% year on year respectively, says Dave Stratton, brand development director for Lucozade at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

The increase in demand for functional products explains why sports & energy is the fastest growing segment, not only in soft drinks but also in total grocery, he adds.

“Within this segment, Lucozade is the UK’s leading sports & energy drink brand and is still driving significant levels of growth. Its ability to connect and engage with its core adult consumers through highly relevant and targeted marketing campaigns is central to its continued success,” he says.

Lucozade Energy 500ml and Lucozade Sport 500ml are the brand’s key skus for the impulse channel, tapping into the continued trends for convenience and on-the-go.

Stratton says that 49% of soft drinks purchases are unplanned, and brand equity and consumer understanding of usage occasions are critical to getting soft drinks on shoppers’ agendas.

Lucozade Energy Orange 500ml remains the favoured flavour profile, with £27.2m value sales year on year and growing by 6.9% in value versus a year ago. Lucozade Sport continues to boost its category leadership and Body Fuel is up by 3.4% year on year.

This year GSK has spent £8m educating consumers about the performance benefits of sports drinks compared to water alone during endurance exercise. As part of that programme, the ‘I Believe’ campaign is asking sports participants to use Lucozade Sport during their game or run, and then say whether they believe Lucozade Sport helped them perform. Stratton says: “With over 50,000 sports participants sampled to date, 95% have selected ‘#Ibelieve’. As Gareth Bale has just become the world’s most expensive footballer, we couldn’t have picked a better ambassador to highlight the performance benefits of drinking Lucozade Sport.”

Stratton says new product development is the lifeblood of the soft drinks category, attracting new shoppers to the category. GSK has contributed 58% of NPD impulse sales in the sports & energy market (Nielsen drink now for the year to 2.2.13) and 24% of sales comes from new products.

Although it was only launched in September 2012, Lucozade Energy Pink Lemonade was the best-selling

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BUYER’S VIEW FROM HQ Derek Cowan, head buyer at JW Filshill, says: “We are currently showing double-digit growth in our energy drinks category in value terms and are 7% higher in case sales. This means that we are selling more ‘value’ skus.

Energy continues to be our fastest growth category within soft drinks.

He adds: “The value end is again taking more share of the energy category in 2013. With the introduction of new flavours, Emerge 250ml price-marked 35p is particularly doing well. Our fastest growth brand is Rockstar 500ml. The 99p long-term price ticket, along with good support from Barrs, is knocking spots off all other 500ml skus.”

Looking ahead to the festive period, he says: “The consumer tends to trade up during the Christmas period; therefore we feature Red Bull four-pack heavily in December. It has an on-pack promotion with Winter Olympic snowboard hopeful Aimee Fuller, with fantastic point of purchase available for our stores.”

Regarding suppliers’ support for the wholesale channel, he says: “Boost Drinks doesn’t get enough credit for being the ‘supplier to the independent trade’ and refusing to deal with the multiples. In general I believe there are three main types of support: brands which get continuous support above the line; suppliers who invest to get the correct consumer price and wholesale/retail margin; and suppliers who work with us in conjunction with their retail team to jointly drive distribution, display and in-store visibility. Red Bull is probably the only supplier which ticks all three boxes.”

He adds that there are currently several strong promotions: “In our KeyStore estate we have a consumer deal on Boost 250ml, price-marked 55p, at ’3 for £1’. In our wholesale side both Relentless £1 and Monster £1.19 are selling at £6.99. We have just launched Mountain Dew Amp 500ml, price-marked 99p, also at £6.99.”

NPD flavour of the total sports & energy category in the whole of last year. It brought 55,000 incremental shoppers to the category and contributed 24.8% of energy drinks value growth. It is now the third best-selling Lucozade Energy flavour and has been made a permanent sku.

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energy drinks Building on its range

Limited edition Boost Drinks has launched a limited-edition 49p pricemarked pack for its 250ml Boost Energy can in all five variants – Original, Sugar Free, Cola, Citrus and Orange & Mango.

The promotion is designed to increase sales and offer even better value to consumers while maintaining the margin for retailers and wholesalers.

Boost’s founder and managing director Simon Gray explains: “This is a limited-edition PMP promotion designed to drive sales in the run-up to Christmas and into the New Year. The Boost Energy 250ml can is one of our best-selling products already, so we are confident that this will be a successful tactic for the independent retail sector.”

‘As a champion of the independents, price-marking forms a major part of Boost’s business’

Coca-Cola Enterprises is a major player within energy, with both Relentless and Monster in its portfolio. Within ‘immediate consumption’, Relentless Origin 500ml and Monster Energy 500ml fall into the top five performing skus (Nielsen total impulse for the year to 28.9.13).

Trade communications manager Dave Turner says that consumers buying into the energy drinks sector are looking for a variety of different products and formats to meet their needs. Value is a key trend, and as a result price-marked packs are seeing strong rate of sale in the sector.

New price-marked packs, at £1 and £1.19 respectively, were introduced to the Relentless and Monster ranges at the start of the year. These were initially offered only for specific promotional periods but were then made available for the rest of 2013.

“Price-marked packs offer a strong sales proposition for retailers and this continues to be a growing trend as shoppers look for the best value in all product areas,” points out Turner.

New flavours and formats are also driving growth. To further broaden the appeal of Relentless and attract new energy drinkers to the sector, CCE launched a 250ml can format for Relentless Origin at the start of the year. With an rsp of 79p, the pack is designed to make branded energy drinks that are either under a £1 price point or that come in a 250ml format more easily accessible for consumers.

Relentless Origin 250ml is now also available in a fourpack for take-home consumption, which is another sales opportunity within the overall energy drinks sector.

Earlier this year, CCE unveiled Relentless Lemon Ice – a sparkling energy lemonade drink. Turner says: “This refreshing variant scored very strongly in consumer research and sits alongside the existing Relentless variants, Berry Juiced, Tropical Juiced and Orange, which this year have also

Simon Gray, managing director, Boost Drinks The promotional PMP is timed to coincide with the company’s ‘Champion of Independents’ campaign, which is designed to raise awareness that Boost is the only brand to be totally focused on the independent retail sector. The campaign includes in-depot displays, direct communications with retailers and other promotional items.

The Boost brand covers all three sectors of energy drinks – stimulation energy, glucose, and sports/isotonic – with a product portfolio of both price-marked and plain packs to suit retailers’ needs.

Gray told Cash & Carry Management: “As a champion of the independents, price-marking forms a major part of Boost’s business and marketing strategy and will continue to do so, with a number of new developments planned for next year. Our aim is to price our products at a point which offers the consumer great value for money to drive sales and increase brand loyalty, while at the same time ensuring great profit margins for retailers.”

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• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

Monster has teamed up with Call of Duty for a promotion.

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Lucozade, Lucozade Sport and the Arc Device are registered trade marks of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies.

energy drinks benefited from a reformulation that offers consumers a ‘best-ever’ taste.”

He says that brand awareness and demand is due to be higher than ever as CCE has doubled its year-on-year spend for TV and digital advertising, securing Relentless Energy Drink’s position as a must-stock for retailers.

CCE also kicked off 2013 with the launch of two new variants in its Monster Rehab range. Rehab Green Tea and Rehab Orangeade follow the successful launch of Monster Rehab Tea & Lemonade. Turner says: “Rehab is a unique proposition in energy – the sector’s first still drink, and encompassing new flavours for energy, such as tea, which are set to bring incremental shoppers into the category.”

The supplier is helping to build demand from wholesalers’ customers by giving retailers merchandising advice and PoS material to drive sales. Turner says an example of how CCE is helping independents in the energy drinks sector was an in-store promotion across forecourts and independent retail outlets earlier this summer. It offered shoppers the chance to win tickets to Relentless Live, an exclusive London gig last month featuring the three high-profile ambassadors for Relentless Energy in 2013 – Professor Green, Zane Lowe and Pure Love.

Monster also supported its wholesale and retail customers this summer with a repeat of last autumn’s ‘Win a Year’s Supply’ promotion, offering more than 100 retailers the chance to win a 12-month supply.

Most recently, Monster Energy has joined forces with Activision to support the latest release in the Call of Duty franchise – Call of Duty: Ghosts. The two companies are collaborating to give away exclusive ‘money can’t buy’ prizes with every can of Monster Energy.

Cans of Monster Energy Original and Monster Absolutely Zero feature Call of Duty artwork, as well as a unique code under the ring pull that consumers enter online on a Monster microsite. Consumers can play for five different instant-win options and additionally participate by purchasing Monster Ripper, Khaos and Rehab Lemonade and Original four-pack that will also feature a unique code.

The cans will be available until 31 December, and the promotion is being communicated via Facebook, PoS materials and sampling.

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Caroline Cater, operational marketing director at CCE, says: “This link-up with one of the biggest gaming releases of the year will help to drive Monster sales. The brand originally linked with Call of Duty in 2010 and saw a significant uplift in volume sales during the activity, so we recommend that wholesalers and retailers stock up on the Call of Duty packs and use the range of PoS to create impactful displays in-store that drive awareness of the promotion.”

Extending the brand Wholesalers and cash & carries are enjoying a successful time with sports & energy drinks, according to Red Bull, but it advises them to keep up with the fast-changing market if they are to make the most of the opportunity it offers.

Sports & energy is the fastest growing category within soft drinks, and depots should look at their fixtures to ensure they are reflecting this, maintains the company. Many depots haven’t relayed fixtures for a number of years, which could mean they’re missing out on sales by not giving enough space to the best performing categories.

Red Bull also recommends that they look at how much space they are giving each sku. Nearly 200 products registered sales in the past 12 months, but more than 50% of sales comes from just eight skus. Depots should consider the value each sku is delivering to their business, and also help their retail customers understand which products are ‘must stocks’ by making core range recommendations.

During 2013 Red Bull has been investing in developing brand extensions from the foundation of its business. Red Bull Sugarfree was backed by a £2m through-the-line campaign to drive awareness of the product, focusing on the low calorie message for consumers who want a low calorie, functional energy drink.

The company also launched Red Bull Editions, comprising three flavoured drinks: Red Edition (Cranberry), Silver Edition (Lime) and Blue Edition (Blueberry). The flavours, which were backed by a £3.5m campaign, address the number one category barrier of taste, bringing in new shoppers by offering a range of popular flavours.

Furthermore, the profile of the Red Bull brand has been given a significant boost by the success of its Formula 1 team, with its driver, Sebastian Vettel, clinching the driver’s title for the fourth successive year and the team winning the constructors’ championship, also for the fourth successive year.

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WHO’S THE STAR PERFORMER?

THE RED BULL RANGE. More consumers choose to celebrate with Red Bull at Christmas than any other time of the year. So stock the number one energy range for all your customers‘ seasonal occasions and you will get to celebrate with more profits too. www.redbull.co.uk

energy drinks

Widening the appeal Ceuta Healthcare has expanded the range of Berocca, its energy and mind vitamin brand, with the introduction of a single-serve sachet. It says the new product is suitable for the convenience market with a view to maximising impulse and distress purchase occasions.

Berocca is the No.1 energy and mind brand with a 49% market share (Nielsen total coverage, value percentage share, MAT for the week ending 14.9.13), and Berocca Orange 15s is the bestseller in the energy and mind category and has been for the past three years.

The sachets were launched in early October in an outer case designed as a counter-top unit. Each case contains 20 sachets with an rsp of 99p per sachet.

Ceuta says the brand will attract new users who may not be aware that Berocca, described as a great tasting and refreshing drink, offers an alternative to sugary drinks and snacks. The sachet contains one orange tablet that is added to water.

Each serving contains vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, zinc and vitamins B1 and B2, which help to release energy, without any artificial stimulants, caffeine or sugar.

“The sachets provide an opportunity for the brand to appear in a wider convenience channel for instant consumption along with other on-the-go options,” says a Berocca spokesperson.

The brand is currently running a £5m media campaign, with its latest creative showing an everyday guy on his notso-everyday commute to work. Ceuta says this is helping to drive awareness and to bring to life the strapline ’You but on a really good day’.

Critical category It is critical for cash & carry outlets to get the energy category right as it is the biggest within total soft drinks in impulse, says Guy Gissing, national impulse controller at AG Barr.

The energy category in impulse is worth £482m and is growing at 7% (Nielsen Scantrack, % value growth, MAT

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• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

week ending 14.9.13), with ‘big can’ energy formats driving the category, up by 15% year on year.

Gissing says that energy drinks is the second fastest growing category in impulse soft drinks and has been the key driver of growth in soft drinks for a number of years. He says: “They are already evolving as the market matures and we are seeing a range of formats and flavours as consumers look for choice.”

In the 500ml big can format, flavours are fuelling impulse market growth at 43% by value. Rockstar is said to be leading this growth, and seven of the 10 fastest selling 500ml product lines are Rockstar flavours (Nielsen Scantrack).

“Cash & carry outlets need to ensure that they give energy drinks the space they merit,” says Gissing. “Outlets should take account of which brands and sub-sectors of the category are growing to ensure the range reflects the current trends.

In particular, flavoured energy needs to be given more space to ensure retailers can offer consumers the choice they require.”

Rockstar comes in six flavours with vibrant packaging. Gissing says shopper insight shows that, among the core 16-24 market, Rockstar is sought out as a better tasting energy drink, with consumers really connecting with the range of flavours.

“Rockstar now dominates the flavours sector with its innovative NPD, representing an unmissable opportunity for cash & carry outlets. Rockstar SuperSours have already delivered over £7m of sales since launching in February this year and the BubbleBurst variant is the UK’s second fastest selling big can in impulse.”

According to Gissing, Rockstar Xdurance is the UK’s fastest-selling big can energy drink and the brand has built on this success with the recent launch of a new Rockstar Xdurance variant, Tropical Orange. “This offers Xdurance loyalists a great tasting new flavour as well as attracting new shoppers to the brand.”

He continues: “Rockstar Xdurance Tropical Orange received excellent feedback in consumer taste tests, with 80% saying they would buy the product. Orange flavoured drinks have proven success. Orange is the biggest flavour in sports & energy (excluding Original), accounting for nearly 25% of all sales.”

For further information: AG Barr (01204) 664295 Boost Drinks (0113) 240 3666 Ceuta Healthcare (01202) 780558 Coca-Cola Enterprises (08457) 227222 GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare 020-8047 5000 Red Bull 020-3117 2000

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In the last 3 years Berocca has grown from £18.7m to £23.2m**

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You, but on a really good day* *Magnesium, zinc and vitamins B1 and B2 help to release your energy **Nielsen VMS Total Coverage - Value Sales – w/e 17.08.13

wines, spirits & rtds

Catering for demand when consumers want to buy locally Christmas is traditionally the biggest sales opportunity of the year, and although wholesalers’ independent retail customers face the challenge of aggressive pricing from the multiples, they will benefit from providing for the last-minute rush, says John Fergusson-Cooper, Landmark Wholesale’s trading controller for wines and spirits.

He says the two weeks before Christmas Day tend to be the busiest for independent retailers’ alcohol sales, peaking the week before.

Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday this year so sales are likely to swell between the Friday and Christmas Eve, and there is the additional weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Eve that will further boost sales.

Fergusson-Cooper says: “Premium spirits always sell well as last-minute gifts at a time of the year when consumers are prepared to spend a little more. However, these stocks need to be balanced properly with more cost-effective own-brand ranges that offer great quality but provide better value for a big night in. A good range of size variants is recommended to cater for all occasions that might require anything from a 35cl unit to the biggest bottles, bearing in mind that fractionals account for approximately 30% of spirits sold in the convenience channel.”

And while sparkling wines are a must-stock item, some consumers may adjust their intake this year, opting for more affordable options over the expensive bubbly.

Track record of sales growth WKD is a strong performer for the wholesale sector at Christmas, according to Debs Carter, marketing director at SHS Drinks. She says: “While RTD category value sales were down by 7% in November/ December last year, they still generated £59m of sales over the festive season, and in the impulse sector WKD was the brand leader by far, accounting for over a third of RTD sales in independents last Christmas (37% volume share, and 35% value share, according to Nielsen Scantrack GB impulse RTD category value share for the 13 weeks to 5.1.13).

“In fact,” adds Carter, “WKD sold more in value terms than the next four competitor RTD brands combined

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• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

BUYER’S VIEW FROM HQ “Christmas is by far the key period for wines and spirits,” reports Chris Alba, head of central procurement for HT & Co Drinks. “This is when you would expect to sell most of your stock. But it is important to create planned activity throughout the year and not just to rely on Christmas sales.”

HT & Co is a licensed specialist and Today’s Group member with a turnover of £220m from a single depot in Park Royal, west London. Alba says the company is operating in a market that is continuously evolving, adding: “Pre-mixed cans are currently trending, as well as flavoured vodka.

“Our liqueur range is doing really well as customers have been increasingly seeking the weird and obscure.

Bourbon and tequila-infused beers at a premium price also seem to be making some waves. However, British fortified wine seems to be in decline.”

HT & Co works with a wide range of suppliers, and Alba says: “We appreciate all of our suppliers, large and small. The suppliers that are willing to pre-plan promotional activity and are happy to discuss the mechanics and support behind activity are the ones that will reap the best benefits in the long run.

“With such partners we could potentially map out a whole year of promotions that can then be implemented by my team. Each promotion will be tailored and then monitored for optimum performance.”

(Smirnoff Ice, Jack Daniel’s & Cola, Crabbie’s and VK), so WKD really does play a vital role in cash & carries and wholesalers’ festive alcohol offering.”

Brand owner SHS Drinks highlights particularly strong festive performances in the impulse sector for WKD Blue 275ml bottle four-packs, which boosted volume sales by 22% and value by 19%; WKD Purple 275ml bottle four-packs – up by 15% volume and 12% value; and WKD Blue 275ml bottle eight-packs, which saw festive sales almost double versus Christmas 2011 – volumes surged by 86% and value by 88%.

Explaining the reasons for these spikes in performance, Carter says: “Last Christmas both WKD Blue and WKD Purple four-packs were available exclusively in the cash & carry

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wines, spirits & rtds and wholesale trading channel in £4.99 price-marked packs, and they had a significant and positive impact on WKD four-pack sales.

“This Christmas WKD Blue and WKD Iron Brew are exclusively available to wholesalers and cash & carries in £4.99 PMPs, and we are also providing wholesalers with a comprehensive selection of case and account-specific promotions across all WKD four-packs and 70cl bottles.”

Turning to the rise of the eight-pack RTD format and its

‘Single bottles are still the biggest selling pack format in the impulse sector, but last Christmas we saw a definite move towards multipacks’ Debs Carter, SHS Drinks marketing director growing importance in the wholesale sector, Carter says: “Single bottles are still by far the biggest selling pack format in the impulse sector, but last Christmas we saw a definite move towards multipack purchases in this trading channel.

“More consumers are purchasing alcohol from their local off licence or convenience store and because they are carrying their purchases, and because they have less money in their pockets, they are tending to buy eight-packs from their local stores rather than stocking up on multipack case deals at the supermarket.

Carter also highlights the trend towards using RTDs in cocktails and says that cash & carries can maximise this opportunity by merchandising the RTD cocktail ingredients together in an in-depot display, with signage and PoS to help retailers find what they want.

Key brands Diageo is emphasising the opportunity for wholesalers to boost spirits sales at Christmas: in the on-trade spirits sales are up 40% in the four weeks leading up to Christmas versus the average month, and off-trade customers are looking for a special drinking experience at home or for gifting.

For these reasons it says that stocking up on key spirits brands, such as Smirnoff, Bell’s, Gordon’s, Captain Morgan’s Spiced and Baileys, is key for wholesalers looking to maximise sales over Christmas.

Two new lines that it will be highlighting this Christmas are Smirnoff Gold and Baileys Chocolat Luxe.

Smirnoff Gold is a new blend of Smirnoff No.21 premium vodka with a hint of natural cinnamon flavouring, garnished with real edible 23 carat gold leaf. The launch is being supported by a £4.5m integrated through-the-line campaign.

Chocolat Luxe is an addition to the Baileys range of liqueurs, which always see a sales uplift over the festive season. Baileys Original is a major seller at this time of year, and newcomer Chocolat Luxe is said to be the only liqueur in the market to use real Belgian chocolate. Backing the launch is a £7m marketing campaign that includes TV advertising, sampling and in-store activation.

Getting the sales mix right

“Nielsen data shows that while eight-pack sales in the impulse sector grew four-fold last Christmas, multiple grocers saw eight-pack sales more than halve over the festive season and they also saw declines in 10 and 12-pack sales too.

“This trend provides cash & carries and wholesalers with a opportunity to encourage independent retailers to trade up to larger pack formats, particularly during the festive season when consumers are doing more entertaining at home.”

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In-depth research carried out for Pernod Ricard UK into the buying habits of 2,000 consumers shows how important premium wines and spirits are in the sales mix.

“The results highlighted that, despite ongoing economic challenges, consumers are intent on investing more in premium branded wines and spirits over the Christmas period,” explains Dan Reuby, customer marketing director at Pernod Ricard UK. “Indeed, premium wine now accounts for 25% of all wine spend over Christmas in the off-trade and premium spirits account for close to 40% of all spirits sales in the final week before Christmas.”

Good news for wholesalers’ customers is that consumers are increasingly looking to convenience and impulse outlets for top-up shopping on premium wines and spirits and lastminute gifting. Simon van Moppes, commercial director for spirits, says: “The challenge for retailers is to ensure they range and showcase premium spirits in-store, highlight

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wines, spirits & rtds gifting and create stand-alone displays to encourage consumers to create cocktails in their own homes.”

Traditionally, the spirits gifting market has been focused on the stocking filler 70cl or miniatures pack, and a new Malibu gift pack targets this area. However, this year consumers are also asking for more premium and larger gift packs priced at £25 plus that could act as a main gift.

When it comes to wines, consumers are increasingly seeking to trade up and purchase better wines. In addition, sparkling wine offers a significant profit opportunity. It is the fastest growing category across beers, wines and spirits over Christmas, maintaining double-digit growth for the past two years.

In acknowledgement of the importance of the impulse and convenience channels to premium wine sales, Pernod Ricard UK has tailored two developments specifically to this channel. It is reintroducing the Campo Viejo price-marked pack and launching a price-marked pack in the Jacob’s Creek classics range.

“Our consumer research has identified the convenience channel as one growing in importance so we are ensuring that our customers have the tools in place to increase footfall and drive profitability and repeat purchase,” says Patrick Venning, marketing director at Pernod Ricard UK.

Tapping into gifting Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (BBFB) has launched a new promotion for the convenience channel, designed to tap into the spirit gifting occasion, which will see the company offering shoppers free gift bags with some brands.

The offer is running across Bacardi rum, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Bombay Sapphire gin and Southern Comfort, and is being supported by branded shipper units to help maximise visibility in store. The new shippers hold branded flatpacked gift bags so they can be placed in store rather than behind the till point.

David Irwin, director of grocery and convenience at Bacardi BrownForman Brands, comments: “The festive season is a crucial period for the spirits category, driving huge spikes in sales and giving retailers the chance to make incremental profits. The gifting occasion is also key to seasonal sales, with huge numbers of consumers seeking convenient gift solutions and to trade up to more premium brands.

“Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands is therefore delighted to be supporting the convenience channel with our new festive promotion which will provide retailers with a chance to tap into this lucrative occasion. Last year’s activity saw an average 33% uplift in value sales, so we’re confident that the new offering will once again appeal to shoppers looking for gifts during the winter months.”

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BBFB is also launching its first-ever price-marked 35cl pack of Jack Daniel’s, at the promotional price of £12.49, to help independent retailers capitalise on the growing demand for smaller spirit formats.

Crispin Stephens, marketing manager at Jack Daniel’s, comments: “With value-for-money continuing to be a concern for consumers, we’ve introduced our first price-marked pack to independent and convenience store retailers this year.”

Inspiring consumers

Maxxium UK is launching a new campaign under the ‘Here’s to Now’ theme, encouraging consumers to live spontaneously and targeting premium spirit consumers aged 25-45.

The campaign is being supported by an extensive massmedia programme, including online and print advertising.

The print campaign features a series of intriguing scenarios shot by well-known photographer Jillian Lochner that capture indulgent party scenes and invite viewers to draw their own conclusion about what has taken place, allowing them to put themselves in the moment.

The ads, which have the straplines ‘It might not be the right place, but it’s definitely the right time’ and ‘What better time than now?’, encourage social drinking occasions with Courvoisier that might not be expected from a cognac brand.

Here’s to Now is being supported in the cash & carry sector with displays and premium gift cartons featuring Lochner’s photography.

Maxxium UK’s marketing controller for luxury brands, Chris Anderson, says: “This brand, steeped in history, is once again leading the cognac category with an inspirational campaign that gives the category a fresh new feel. Here’s to Now is revolutionary in that it takes a 200-year-old brand and makes it relevant for today’s consumers, urging them to embrace life’s spontaneous moments with Courvoisier whenever and wherever the mood strikes.

“Here’s to Now is a multi-media campaign with on and off-trade support that will drive sales of Courvoisier and inspire consumers, old and new, to reach for the brand.”

For further information: Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (01962) 762450 Diageo 020-8978 6000 Maxxium UK (01786) 430500 Pernod Ricard 020-8538 4000 SHS Drinks (01452) 378555

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breakfast

The changing face of breakfast Consumers demand value for money and products to suit their on-the-go lifestyles.

Breakfast cereals are an important grocery category for retailers, currently valued at £1.5bn, with 96% of UK households consuming breakfast cereals (IRI data w/e 14 September 2013).

According to Cereal Partners, only 16% of convenience retailers commit to following a breakfast cereals planogram, compared with 88% for confectionery and 79% for soft drinks.

Following a planogram is a fundamental step in providing the right consumer offer, argues the company. A good breakfast cereal planogram will include as many of the top 20 cereal brands as space permits and will offer a good mix of healthy, indulgence & enjoyment, hot, children’s and everyday family cereals.

Availability is key, and bestselling lines should ideally be double-faced on the fixture. New products are important for creating interest and impulse purchase but should always be complementary to an established core range.

Nearly, if not all, of the top 20 breakfast cereal brands are widely available in a price-marked format. When asked, 44% of consumers said they were more likely to buy a product on

‘New products create interest and impulse purchases but should always be complementary to an established core range’ Cereal Partners spokesperson impulse if it was a PMP. One out of every two independent convenience retailers buy PMPs and 66% of retailers believe PMPs to be the most effective promotional tool. Grocery shoppers are much more promotionally aware, with 15% intending to buy on promotion (him! CTP 2013).

In the breakfast cereals category, Nestlé has a core range of price-marked packs that includes all of its major brands: Shredded Wheat, Cheerios, Honey Cheerios, Shreddies, Cookie Crisp and Bitesize Shredded Wheat.

All these cereals are available in small case sizes of fives or sixes.

All data him! CTP 2011 unless otherwise stated.

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Convenient developments Breakfast remains the largest meal occasion in the UK and has been growing over the past 10 years (Kantar Worldpanel usage 12 m/e May 2012). But more people are eating breakfast on-the-go, reports Kellogg’s, which is why the breakfast biscuit market is doing so well.

“There are an estimated 2.6 billion missed breakfasts every year in the UK and this market is worth £28 million,” says Nick Dawson, head of field sales. “So it’s a fantastic opportunity for retailers if they can offer their customers an on-the-go breakfast. Nutri-Grain Breakfast Biscuits and NutriGrain Crunchy Nut Granola Slices are perfect for this.”

Breakfast biscuits are the fastest growing product within the healthier biscuit category (IRN 52 w/e 27 April 2013).

“While on-the-go morning foods are certainly gathering momentum in the market,” says Dawson, “cereal is the largest breakfast category, accounting for 64% of breakfast occasions (Kantar Worldpanel 12 m/e May 2012).”

According to Kellogg’s, 80% of sales come from 20% of the range and the simple solution is for retailers to stock the bestsellers, instead of spreading sales across too many products.

Kellogg’s is listed in the top four selling cereals in the convenience channel (IRI independent grocers: 52 w/e 27 April 2013).

“When it comes to our cereals, we provide clear messaging on our cases to highlight the bestsellers and muststock lines to help retailers make the right choices so they can maximise sales,” says Dawson. “We are constantly evolving how we communicate to ensure that our field sales team has the best tools and category knowledge in the industry.”

Kellogg’s has undergone a shake-up in the way its breakfast cereals are sold in the convenience channel, which has since helped its wholesale partners. Launching case sizes with a lower number of packets per case has meant a lower investment in stock for independent retailers. These new case sizes have been introduced for seven of Kellogg’s 10 top-selling cereals.

In January 2013 Belvita Breakfast biscuits from Mondelez International celebrated a sales milestone of £50m year on year (Nielsen total coverage MAT to w/e 26 January 2013).

Belvita has taken the number one spot in healthy biscuits and number four in total biscuits (Nielsen total coverage, MAT to w/e 18 May 2013).

Rahul Gursahani, senior brand manager, says: “We’ve been increasing our year-on-year sales through ongoing innovation and marketing investment, and we’re proud

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breakfast to be taking leadership of the overall category.”

Belvita Breakfast has benefited from new variants, including Cranberry, Strawberry and Yoghurt Duo Crunch.

The brand was also launched in an exclusive format for the convenience channel, with a 150g pack aimed at top-up shoppers. The new packs, available in Milk & Cereals and Honey & Nut flavours, contain 3 x 50g packs of biscuits.

Healthy options Developed by Freedom Cereals, Keep Me Going is a breakfast cereal with a low glycaemic index (GI), providing a longlasting release of energy and helping to reduce the desire to snack between meals.

Keep Me Going is also low in fat, salt and sugar, making it a healthy way to start the day, as well as helping with weight control.

Consisting of wholegrain barley and oat pillows, Keep Me Going has a GI of just 50. Low-GI foods can help you to feel fuller for longer. Choosing low-GI foods is also believed to help reduce tiredness, release energy and maintain a healthy immune system.

The Keep Me Going wheat-free recipe is high in fibre, with wholegrain barley and oats that are a good source of beta glucans, which can help to lower cholesterol levels. The cereal contains SOLO sea salt, which has 60% less sodium than regular salt, helping to maintain healthy blood pressure.

With just 0.19% salt content, Keep Me Going has less than a fifth of the salt present in many ‘healthier’ cereal brands.

Keep Me Going also contains only 8.9% sugar. Joint managing director Richard Paterson explains: “Previously, foods needed to have a sugar content of over 15% to warrant a red rating in the front-of-pack labelling but, in the new system, only foods with over 22.5% sugar will get a red flag. This means that several leading breakfast cereals that market themselves as having a healthy profile but which would have been red-carded under the old system have now achieved an amber by the skin of their teeth. With the amber category being so broad – from just 5% to 22.5% sugar content – it’s very confusing for consumers.”

As regards Keep Me Going, Paterson says: “What we’re really excited about is the fact that all this goodness, including added vitamins and minerals but absolutely no artificial colours or preservatives, is not at the expense of tastiness.”

Every pack of Keep Me Going breakfast cereal contains three trading cards that feature a national flag on one side and interesting facts about a country on the reverse. There are over 190 trading cards in the series.

Award winner Quaker Oat So Simple, manufactured by PepsiCo, is the fastest growing top 10 cereal brand (Nielsen total coverage, 52 weeks through 22 December 2012).

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The Oat So Simple Pots range has been voted Product of the Year in the porridge category based on a survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres of over 10,000 consumers. The UK’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation recognises the success of Quaker Oat So Simple Pots at delivering quality porridge in a range of flavours in an innovative, convenient format.

The range has attracted new customers to porridge, with 86% of volume incremental to the hot cereals category (Kantar 52 weeks through 23 December 2012).

Patrick Kalotis, group marketing director of Quaker and Tropicana, comments: “We are delighted that so many consumers are recognising the benefits of Quaker Oat So Simple Pots. With 55% of consumers leaving home without breakfast and one in 10 eating breakfast at their desks, breakfast on-the-go presents a significant sales opportunity for retailers (PepsiCo breakfast 6Ws study June 2011: internal company research into Who, What, Where, When, Why, hoW).

“We have responded to this demand by continuing to innovate within our popular on-the-go breakfast portfolio, which includes our delicious range of Quaker Oat So Simple Pots and our convenient Quaker Oat So Simple Morning Bars,” says Kalotis.

“We hope that leveraging this industry accolade in-store will drive further trial of the product and help retailers to super-start their morning sales, maximising the growing onthe-go breakfast opportunity. We have invested in innovative merchandising solutions specifically tailored to each channel. This includes bespoke point of sale for independent retailers, such as clip strips to site Quaker Oat So Simple Pots alongside Tropicana. By offering ‘two for £2’ breakfast meal deals customers can target the one-third of shoppers who claim they would buy if available (Kantar Worldpanel, w/e 8 July 2012). We will be driving visibility of the full Quaker onthe-go range and the meal deal opportunity by creating dedicated Quaker bays in depot.”

Quaker Oat So Simple Pots is supported by a marketing campaign that includes TV advertising. The wider Oat So Simple brand is also backed by a digital campaign featuring Mr Motivator and Denise Van Outen.

For further information: Cereal Partners (01707) 824400 Freedom Cereals 020-8464 1665 Kellogg’s (0800) 626066 Mondelez International (08702) 400861 PepsiCo (0800) 032 4490

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Smaller s of case size uire eq 5s & 6s r m minimu outlay

Your customers love the price, you’ll love the profit!

44% of shoppers would be more likely to make an impulse purchase if the product was a price-marked pack (PMP)1 57% of retailers agreed PMP would be the biggest driver of sales increase over the next 12 months2

For further information please contact: Rachel.parker@cpuk.nestle.com Source: 1. him! CTP 2011 2. him! pmp-retailer study

All br a backe nds d by multi -milli pou on activ nd media ity in TV, ra cl dio, c uding ine prom otion ma, s and o n-line

snacks

Consumers spoilt for choice New products and variants mean the snacking category now has even broader appeal.

The UK crisps market is worth £2.3bn and the category has been growing at 6% over the past year.

According to Kellogg’s, sharing packs are increasingly popular with shoppers and this particular format is growing at 4.9%. Consumers view sharing packs as offering better value for money, and they are suited to nights in and parties.

Pringles is the number one selling sharing snack brand in the UK, worth over £160m in retail sales. Sales of Pringles double at Christmas, with 43% of UK households buying the brand during the festive season.

Pringles Xtra is a collection of bigger, bolder variations of familiar favourites created to give shoppers a more intense taste experience. Two flavours from the range available in the channel as price-marked packs are Xtra Kickin Sour Cream & Onion and Xtra Cheesey Nacho Cheese, which come in a six-pack case size.

Pringles has invested in a multimedia campaign to support the launch, including TV, targeted sampling and digital activity featuring interactive films entitled ‘Fan Versus Xtra Flavour’, hosted on the Pringles Facebook page.

Pringles is launching its first chicken variant in the channel in the New Year. Chicken is the sixth most popular crisp flavour in the UK and is worth an estimated £14m to the convenience channel. The new flavour will come in a six-pack case size and will have an rsp of £2.49 for 190g. Kellogg’s is investing in a new multimedia campaign to support the launch, including TV and digital activity.

Brand manager Fiachra Moloney comments: “Consumers love Pringles, so much so that we see a 50% incremental sales uplift to the category when we launch a new flavour. We believe this latest flavour will help to drive even more sales for our convenience retailers.”

Kellogg’s recently launched Special K Cracker Crisps in a unique box format for sharing. The demand for healthier crisps is growing and, along with sharing packs, is a key trend. Calorie control and portion size are more important than ever to consumers.

The healthier crisps market is, however, still relatively small. It is worth around £4m, but growing at 21%. Sales of healthier, lower-calorie crisps are incremental to the crisps category as generally people don’t tend to buy crisps when they are on a diet.

“Special K Cracker Crisps have less than 99 calories a bag or serving of 21 crisps,” explains Nick Dawson, head of field sales. “This is our point of difference and we believe the brand is going to help shake up the market and bring more women back to the category.”

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Ridged addition PepsiCo has launched a new Walkers Deep Ridged flavour: Chilli Beef.

The new variant joins the existing flavours: Flame Grilled Steak, Mature Cheddar & Onion and Salt & Malt Vinegar. A bespoke three-case stacker featuring new Chilli Beef is available for independent retailers, alongside single cases of 24 packs of the 50g size.

Building on the brand’s commitment to using 100% British potatoes, Walkers has also introduced home-grown ingredients to its core range of crisps, including: Cheddar from Somerset in Cheese & Onion; tomatoes from the Vale of Evesham in Prawn Cocktail and Tomato Ketchup; salt from Cheshire in Ready Salted; and sour cream from Dorset in Sour Cream & Chive.

Walkers recently launched its biggest on-pack promotion to reinforce its use of home-grown ingredients. There is a guaranteed win in every pack, ranging from free crisps and discounts on days out to cash prizes worth up to £10,000.

Through an online game called Gary’s Great Ingredient Hunt, consumers can help Gary Lineker find the home-grown ingredients to win rewards.

The promotion is supported by a humorous TV ad, while PMPs and non-price-marked four-case stackers are available to independent retailers.

Promotional activity includes bespoke tractor-shaped display units, as well as PoS featuring iconic British scenery. The new packaging features a Union Jack potato stamp reinforcing provenance, while the iconic Walkers logo benefits from an update.

Nuts are driving category growth at 36% (Nielsen grocery mults, MAT 2012 vs 2010). TigerNuts is now available in two flavours – Sweet Chilli and Smoky Bacon – both in a handy on-the-go format (40g).

Brand makeover Nando’s, licensed by All About Foods, has refreshed its range of crisps in a bid to appeal to the male crisp consumer looking for stronger flavours and memorable bite.

The range has been renamed Nando’s PERi-PERi Grooves and features hand-cooked, ridge-cut crisps designed to lock in Nando’s peri-peri flavour.

Marketing manager James Beaumont says: “The strength of the brand coupled with the fantastic product quality

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ONLY 7 PRINGLES SHOPPING WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS. Nothing will light up your Christmas more than your customers filling their baskets with Pringles – the UK’s number one sharing snack. 42.8% of households buy Pringles at Christmas.* Stock up now and celebrate your profits early this Christmas. Merry Pringles.

For more information call the Pringles trade careline on 0800 731 4994.

*TNS data – October – December 2012. ©2013 Kellogg Company

snacks and striking new packaging design means Nando’s PERi-PERi Groove Cut Potato Chips will really spice up the fixture.”

The new products have been developed with two key trends in mind.

“Firstly, crinkle cut is the fastest growing sector in the crisps category,” explains Beaumont. “Nando’s can offer a unique proposition within this market: an impactful brand, with distinctive flavours and spice, which can help to accelerate growth for the retailer by recruiting new shoppers whilst offering consumers an exciting new choice of snack.

“Secondly, data demonstrates that there is an increase in male consumers eating crisps as a snack outside the home.

Following the relaunch, sales of Nando’s PERi-PERi Groove Cut Potato Chips have grown by 300% in the last quarter.’’

Nando’s PERi-PERi Groove Cut Potato Chips are available in three flavours – Smokey BBQ, Spicy Chicken and Sizzling Hot – and two pack sizes: 150g for sharing and 40g for onthe-go consumption.

All About Food is investing £1m in Nando’s this year to support the full grocery range and bolster the launch.

Nando’s PERi-PERi Groove Cut Potato Chips feature an on-pack promotion in which gig tickets are being given away.

Further activity planned includes sampling, experiential activity, PR and a social media programme that delivers brand engagement activity to over two million Nando’s advocates.

Festive variety Kettle Chips, manufactured by Kettle Foods, is the UK’s original and number one premium snack brand. The brand is worth over £101m per annum, with value growth of 7.7% over the last 12 months (vs 5.4% for the total market).

This performance is mirrored in the convenience sector where the brand has grown by 16.1% year on year (latest 12 weeks vs category 10.7%). The number of households now buying Kettle Chips is at 28.9% (all data Nielsen to w/e 17 August 2013).

Kettle Foods has launched a new flavour for Christmas: Kettle Chips Smoked Paprika with Porcini & Garlic Butter.

Marketing director Andrew Slamin comments: “Packaged in a distinctive red bag to create shelf stand-out, Kettle Chips Smoked Paprika, Porcini & Garlic Butter was created to capture the spirit of warming winter food.”

Kettle Chips are hand-cooked and free from MSG, artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives. The brand is back on TV with a new creative that builds on the press campaign launched earlier this year and reinforces the authentic and traditional nature of the products.

New sharing ranges Sharing formats have shown value growth at 7%. Bagged snacks in particular are growing at 6% year on year (AC Nielsen 6 July 2013).

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KP Snacks recently launched two new sharing ranges.

The six-strong Phileas Fogg portfolio brings Exciting Taste Experiences from Around the World into store. KP Snacks also introduced a new sharing product into the nuts sector: KP Snackers. As the first branded mixed-snack range in the UK market, the product combines favourites such as KP Jumbo Peanuts and Hula Hoops with other popular snacks like tortillas, corn strips and multigrain crisps in wave and spiral shapes.

Key for any snacking fixture is a range of leading single packs. KP Snacks has product and case formats across its portfolio of brands that are designed to help retailers manage cash outlay, improve stock control and offer consumers visible value for money. These include a variety of pack sizes, PMPs and smaller case sizes.

KP Snacks’ recent marketing investment has included two TV campaigns, outdoor advertising and digital support for new Phileas Fogg, new ads for McCoy’s and Hula Hoops, Pom-Bear zoo/wildlife sponsorships, plus a national media campaign for Skips featuring the voice of Little Britain star Matt Lucas.

Snack-pack format Halo Foods has announced the release of nine of its bestselling Dormen Food Company products, including Original Salted Peanut and Wasabi Peanut, in 40g and 50g snack packs. This new format is designed to meet the demand from the retail sector.

The new lines come in custom 12 x 50/40g counter display units, affording Dormen Food Company an increased presence at till fronts or in snack aisles and offering an attractive purchase point display for retailers.

Products available in the new pack sizes are: Original Salted Peanut (50g), Dry Roasted Peanut (50g), Wasabi Peanut (40g), Jumbo Cashew (50g), Smoked Almond (50g), Spicy Peanut (50g), Bombay Mix (40g), Caramelised Cashew and Peanuts (50g) and Salted Bar Mix (50g).

Brand manager Jodie Cavaye says: “Dormen Food Company snack ranges have always been extremely popular in the luxury sector, but we have also seen a growing demand for quality snack products from retailers. We’re delighted to bring to market this new pack size, which will offer consumers and retailers our bestselling products as an easier, snack-size purchase.”

For further information: All About Foods (01695) 556427 Halo Foods (01654) 711171 Kellogg’s 0161-869 2000 Kettle Foods (01603) 744788 KP Snacks (0845) 601 7583 PepsiCo (0118) 930 6666

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products & promotions Mixing it up

Redesign IMPERIAL TOBACCO – Drum Halfzware portfolio, which includes Drum Original and Drum Gold, has new clean, modern packaging designed to bring the range into the 21st century.

Drum prides itself on representing simplicity and uniqueness and since 1952 has been the original roll-yourown (RYO) of choice for adult RYO enthusiasts.

The brand currently accounts for 5.26% of all RYO sales (ITUK estimates June 2013 year end).

Brand manager Gary Mitchell comments: “Retailers have supported Drum for over 60 years now and we are committed to driving innovation in the rollyour-own segment.”

Tel: Imperial Tobacco (0117) 963 6636.

Here to stay HEINZ – Originally launched as a limited edition, Heinz Sweet Chilli Tomato Ketchup is to remain as part of the Heinz Tomato Ketchup family and is now available in a 260g top-down format priced at £1.09.

Heinz has also responded to retailer feedback regarding the case format for the Tomato Ketchup chilli range, which also includes Heinz Fiery Chilli Tomato Ketchup and Heinz Mexican Chilli Tomato Ketchup. The range previously came in cases of 18; now it is supplied in 10s.

Heinz is raising awareness of Heinz Sweet Chilli Ketchup through digital and Facebook activation, driving consumer engagement through the 400,000-strong loyal fan base.

The sweet chilli sauce market is worth £1.7m (Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 17 August 2013). Heinz Tomato Ketchup is the market leader with a 78% value share of the total tomato ketchup category, worth £159m (AC Nielsen MAT w/e 17 August 2013).

Tel: Heinz 020-8573 7757.

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GENERAL MILLS – Betty Crocker, the UK’s number one brand for cake mixtures (IRI 52 w/e 2 March 2013), has launched two mixes to further inspire budding at-home bakers: Red Velvet Cupcake and Vanilla Cupcake.

The new kits follow the success of Betty Crocker’s Classic Vanilla Cake and Red Velvet Cake mixtures, which both now feature in the brand’s top three selling skus.

These simple kits allow novice bakers to prepare cupcakes easily and confidently for friends and family at home.

Tel: General Mills (01895) 201100.

Festive cheese WENSLEYDALE CREAMERY – The Yorkshire-based cheesemaker has secured a longstanding licence deal with The Copyrights Group, Snowman Enterprises and Channel 4, allowing it to produce miniature character-shaped waxed cheese truckles bearing the famous illustrations of Raymond Briggs’ Christmas characters.

Along with The Snowman and Father Christmas character-shaped waxed cheese truckles, this year sees the addition of a third festive character, The Snowdog, following the huge success of The Snowman and The Snowdog film.

The Christmas character cheese truckles, which have a core family audience, make perfect stocking fillers, gifts or fun additions to the family’s Christmas cheeseboard, suggests the company.

Tel: Wensleydale Creamery (01969) 667664.

• Cash & Carry Management • November 2013

de la Creme SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO GROUP – Café Crème Express Blue miniature cigars have been renamed as Café Crème Finos Blue.

Café Crème Finos Blue includes the same cigars, available in a tin of 10 at an rsp of £4.09.

Head of marketing Alan Graham says: “Café Crème Finos Blue represents years of heritage for the Café Crème brand family so we’re pleased to be bringing the name to the UK. Benefiting from worldwide recognition, as well as the expertise of the UK’s number one cigar brand, Café Crème Finos Blue is already the biggest selling ‘mini’ miniature cigar. Miniature cigars currently make up 66% of all volume sales.”

All data: SymphonyIRI w/e 17 August 2013.

Tel: Scandinavian Tobacco Group (0208) 731 3400.

In the can PRINCES – The company has added three new canned ham variants to the £13m category (IRI 52 w/e 20 July 2013): cured ham with mustard, cracked black pepper and honey.

The launch responds to research showing that the demographic buying into the canned ham fixture has broadened in the last 12 months, with a greater number of younger consumers buying the products (Kantar 52 w/e 7 July 2013).

Neil Brownbill, marketing director, comments: “We developed the three variants to inspire consumers to use canned ham as a key component to family mealtimes outside of its sandwich heartland.”

Princes’ new cured ham range is available in a 200g can with an rsp of £1.89.

Tel: Princes 0151-966 7000.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

products & promotions TV ad

Makeover

BEL UK LTD – Leerdammer, the number one brand in the natural sliced cheese segment (Nielsen MAT 17 August 2013), has an updated television commercial to raise awareness and encourage trial of Leerdammer Toastie slices – the most recent addition to the range.

The ‘Incognito’ creative shows a man tasting Leerdammer Original Slices at an in-store sampling stand, and focuses on how he keeps finding ingenious ways to come back for more.

The aim of the ad is to encourage shoppers to think of Leerdammer as irresistible.

Leerdammer has grown by 33.9% in the last year, taking its value share in natural slices to 11.7%.

SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO GROUP – Natural American Spirit (NAS), the UK’s number one additive-free brand, has unveiled a new look across its product range, including the cigarette and rollyour-own variants.

The redesign retains links to the brand’s heritage, with lively colours and the iconic smoking Indian chief featuring more prominently than ever, giving improved visibility on shelf for consumers.

The NAS cigarette range has also converted from softpack to hardbox for improved product protection and flavour preservation. The hardbox is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper, giving the packs improved eco-friendly credentials.

The NAS range is worth £10m and is in value growth of 32.4%.

All data Nielsen MAT 17 August 2013.

Tel: Bel UK Ltd (0333) 900 2024.

New varieties KEPAK CONVENIENCE FOODS – Zugo’s Deli Café panini range has two new flavours: Mediterranean Chicken with Mozzarella (made with 100% chicken breast) and Four Cheese with Sweet Red Onion Chutney.

The new products join the existing selection, which comprises Chargrilled Chicken, Mozzarella & Pesto panini, Bacon, Cheese & Mustard Mayonnaise panini, and two pasta pot variants.

Marketing director John Armstrong says: “According to the British Sandwich Association, chicken and cheese are the two best-selling sandwich fillings, so we know that these two variants will be very popular with customers.”

Zugo’s Deli Café, now a £7m brand (IRI August 2013), has grown by 14% year on year (retailer panel – cross shop analysis – August 2013).

Tel: Kepak Convenience Foods (01772) 688300.

Best of both FREDERICKS DAIRIES – The company has partnered with popcorn brand Butterkist to manufacture Butterkist Toffee Popcorn ice cream.

Worth £26m in the UK, Butterkist claims a 42% market share of the popcorn sector. Butterkist Toffee Popcorn ice cream sees the brand extend into the take-home ice cream market for the first time.

The product faithfully follows Butterkist’s popcorn recipe, offering real toffee popcorn pieces encased in toffee popcorn flavoured ice cream and sauce.

The 480ml tub is in keeping with the rest of the brand’s product packaging and continues the ‘Butterkist Productions presents’ theme – designed to appeal to those looking for an indulgent snack for evenings at home with family and friends and the ‘big night in’ occasion. It is available at an every day low price (EDL) of £3.

Tel: Fredericks Dairies (0845) 606 7676.

Sweet deal DONATANTONIO – Wowbutter, the 100%-peanut, gluten, dairy and eggfree spread, has been shortlisted for the 2013 Quality Food Awards in the Grocery Ambient Sweet category.

The toasted soya spread, which is said to “taste just like peanut butter”, is available in creamy and crunchy variants and comes in a 500g jar for the retail sector, 2kg and 10kg plastic tubs for service providers, and 14g portion packs.

Peel-off ‘100% Peanut and Nut Free’ school lunch stickers are provided with each jar.

Tel: Donatantonio 020-8236 2222.

www.cashandcarrymanagement.co.uk

All data sourced from SymphonyIRI w/e 17 August 2013.

Tel: STG (0208) 731 3400.

PMP promotion MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL – Sales of chocolate singles increase in autumn compared with the summer months (Nielsen total coverage SeptemberDecember 2012 vs May to August 2012).

Along with NPD and promotions like Unwrap Gold (where customers have the opportunity to win their chocolate bar in real gold), Cadbury – the number one in chocolate singles – is offering independent retailers a range of its bestsellers in 60p price-marked packs.

The range, featuring Twirl, Boost, Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel, Double Decker and Wispa, includes four of the top 10 single bars (Nielsen total coverage MAT to w/e 20 July 2013).

Retailers can also access advice on merchandising their range at www. deliciousdisplay.co.uk.

Tel: Mondelez International (08702) 400861.

Cash & Carry Management

• November 2013 • 55